Hilda Barg for Delegate

Fortunately, Frederick has a super strong opponent in Hilda Barg, who popular Virginia Gov. Mark Warner is strongly backing. Among other things, Barg has 18 years of experience on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, was a small business owner, and believes strongly in improving public education, human services and transportation infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, as of June 30, Barg had more cash on hand than Frederick, $145,011 to $104,870, so this is looking good.  Famed blogger/pundit "Not Larry Sabato" rates this race as "leans Democratic," saying:

This is the first time we have ranked an incumbent as the underdog in their re-election. But every time we have made an excuse as to why this is still a tossup, Hilda Barg has cleared the bar- and easily.

Anyway, with that introduction, here's an exclusive RaisingKaine interview with Hilda Barg.  Enjoy!

Why, in your own words, have you decided to run for Virginia House of Delegates from the 52nd District?
I?m running because the 52nd district and our region are in total gridlock and many citizens are concerned about getting to work and paying there mortgages and having a good education for their children.  We need delegates who understand local governments and their needs and know how to get things done that benefit all our citizens.  I will bring 17 years of experience as elected official in local government, working on issues that effect people everyday. There are those who do lots of talking and not enough work for roads, public schools and police and fireman. I know how to work with everyone to get things done that improve the quality of life for people.

What is your main argument for voters to remove the incumbent, Jeff Frederick, from office?  Do you have any thoughts or comments on Frederick's fundraiser with Tom DeLay?
I don?t want the focus of my campaign to be negative things about my opponent I?ll just say that anyone who thinks it?s a good idea to get closer to Tom DeLay, after all we?ve learned about him in the past few months, clearly either has bad judgment or a seriously skewed definition of leadership.

How would you describe your political philosophy --progressive, moderate, conservative, or something else?  Also, who do you most and least admire in American politics?
My political philosophy has less to do with left or right than it does with what is effective and what is not effective. I work with anyone who genuinely wants to make their community better. The result is a voting record that is pretty moderate, because that is how we?ve been able to do so much for Prince William County.

The person I most admire in American politics is our current Governor. He won a close election right after Sept. 11, and actually succeeded in bringing the people of Virginia together. He is a real uniter. There is no question that the state needed strong, steady leadership and the courage to get our economy and state budget on the right track and I think Governor Warner did just that.

What do you believe needs to be done to solve the traffic mess in Northern Virginia?  Please be specific.
The first step to solving our transportation problem is to admit there is one and that state and local government need to be a positive part of the solution. I believe that just like the responsible middle came together in 2004 to pass a budget that was good for the state, that there is the making of a coalition to tackle the transportation challenges for the next decade in Virginia

Clearly, any solution needs to be a comprehensive one.  I, along with former Delegates Dave Brickley and Jack Rollison, and others, pushed for the PRTC regional bus system and the VRE commuter rail system. Many people said they would never work, but we knew if we planned correctly, people would use mass transit and reduce congestion.  We have to have a realistic plan to make sure that transportation funding is steady and secure from diversions into other programs. The best solutions are multi-modal options that provide convenient choices for commuters.

What are your views on the recent decision of the Base Realignment and Base Closures (BRAC) commission to move more than 20,000 federal employees to Fort Belvoir and Quantico?  Do you see this as an opportunity or threat to the 52nd district?
The recent BRAC decisions are most definitely an opportunity. Thousands of new, good-paying jobs are great for our economy. They do come with the challenge of making sure that our transportation system is prepared to handle the changes, but that is something that we should all be able to work on together. We are working closely with the bases to address our transportation and housing issues.

Virginia's environment is facing serious threats.  Just last month, Virginia Senators George Allen and John Warner voted to commission an inventory of natural gas and oil resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.  And recently, the Washington Post's "outdoorsman extraordinaire," Angus Phillips, compared the Chesapeake Bay to a "morbidly obese patient in the emergency room with IV lines pumping poison in, while blood spurts from arterial wounds and an underlying cancer lurks."  What would you do as a delegate to protect Virginia's environment?
On the first issue, I completely oppose oil and natural gas drilling off the Virginia coast and will work with anyone in the state or federal government to make sure this doesn?t happen.

As to the Chesapeake Bay, we need to make significant progress towards fulfilling our responsibilities before the 2010 federal deadline.  I know that the state, environmental organizations and farmers can work together to make sure that we reduce nitrogen-rich runoff which threaten our lakes, streams and the Bay. On this issue, everyone can benefit.
Finally, on the issue of the environment as a whole, we all must help everyone see environmental stewardship as a moral responsibility. We have a personal and spiritual responsibility to be accountable for our actions. 

It?s good for our economy to have a clean and healthy environment. There are so many appealing areas that can benefit from environmentally sensitive tourism. Plus, I have family who are crabbers, so I know all about the need to keep protect our ecosystem to protect their livelihoods.

What one issue are you most passionate about, and why?
On the whole, I?m passionate about getting things done.

On transportation, I?ve already talked a little about what I want to do and why. I?d add that transportation is an issue where if we allow politicians to get away with talking and blaming each other, we?ll miss a real opportunity to make everyone?s life a little bit better everyday.  It?s also an issue where it?s going to take time to get back to where we need to be.

I know that we can make progress on the issue in Richmond just like we have in Prince William.  I was part of the team that created innovated solutions like PRTC and VRE and part of the leadership that went ahead with the Prince William Parkway when the gridlock in Richmond threatened the project.

However, education and public safety are right up there for me. We can never forget our responsibilities to educate our children and to keep our citizens safe.

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