This is what I like to see! Recently I wrote a candidate diary about our very own Ken Boddye, a non politician taking the plunge and running for the Virginia House of Delegates. And now there’s another drummer marching right along beside him, Tom Brock, who is running for the seat in Virginia’s 21st district.
The same thing is true for Tom Brock. He’s a longtime resident of Virginia, and now lives in the house he was raised in. He’s a married father of two, and he was not by any means born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Already he’s a breath of fresh air from the usual political kitty litter we’ve all become so used to.
And even today he’s not a “fat cat”. Tom works as a system administrator for a chain of dental clinics in Virginia. Before that he worked for a series of full service restaurants that were all profitable. He learned early that he wasn’t going to be rich. He and his family lived paycheck to paycheck, and Tom is no stranger to working weekends and even holidays to support his family properly. But most importantly, he learned that you can’t just listen and communicate with management, you also have to listen and link with not only employees but even customers to come up with the best solutions to lead to maximum productivity and please your customers and motivate employees to give it their best. Gee, does any of this sound like positive attributes for someone who wants to serve his constituents?
Running for a state seat in Virginia, Tom is strong on state issues, and he is a solid progressive. He wants to strengthen public schools, including barring the state from giving subsidies to rich people who don’t think they should pay school taxes because they send their own brood to private schools. Good stuff. He also notes that while Virginia has a healthy and vibrant business community and economy, there are large areas where poverty is relevant. Time to get the state to start to rehabilitate and activate these communities to make them more attractive to business opportunities. Music to the ears.
His opponent, Ron Villanueva is exactly the kitty litter I was talking about earlier. He was first elected in 2010. I have been doing this for a while now, and you know you have a problem when you go to an incumbents website, and there is no “Issues” or “Accomplishments” page. He’s got a personal bio, that’s for sure., but nothing about his stance on issues. Instead he has tabs for things like employment opportunities in the state, a recap of transportation availability in the state, and a tab for Virginia veterans services. All fine and good, but nothing about what he thinks, believes or is doing for the state!
Villanueva is by no means “bulletproof”. In his last two elections, Villanueva has won by margins of 56-43 and 54-45. Solid wins, but blowouts by no means. Trump is going to wear thin quickly, and 2016 showed that we can take even US Congress creeps like Dave Brat to the mattresses.
Time is a-ticking people. As I have noted previously, Virginia has a novel little law that prohibits legislators from fundraising or even accepting donations when the legislature is in session, like it is now. Villanueva is entrenched, fundraising is not going to be a problem for him once the legislature goes on recess. We desperately need this time to give Tom a leg up so that Villanueva has to play catch up, giving Brock a chance to gain recognition and get his own fundraising into a higher gear. We also need to FB share this diary and retweet it to get his name and face out there, allow him to get recognition so he can put his plans and issues statements out there. His opponent seems to be a little shy on positions.
Virginia can be in play, and so can this district. To learn more about Tom Brock you can click HERE. If you want to donate to help get Tom started on this journey, try slapping THIS. And if you want to get in on the ground floor and join Tom on his trek by becoming a volunteer, pootle on over HERE.
Come on guys and gals, we can make a real difference here. These people have already put themselves out there in the foxhole. We can activate now, get them some early love and support, and follow up throughout the summer and fall, or we can sit there in November and whine about opportunities lost. The choice is up to us.