The 34th House of Delegates district (McLean, Great Falls, and northern Fairfax County) is currently (mis)represented by Vince Callahan (R), who hasn't faced a challenge since 2001. This year, however, there's not just one but TWO Democrats - Richard "Rip" Sullivan and Margaret "Margi" Vanderhye - vying to take him on in the general election. I e-mailed interview questions to both Democrats, and am publishing them in the order that I receive them. For Rip Sullivan's interview, see here. Now, without further ado, here's the full interview with Margi Vanderhye (on the "flip").
P.S. Please note that I asked the same questions to each candidate, so you can compare and contrast their responses.
1) Top political strategists generally agree that to defeat an incumbent, you need to do two things. First, you have to convince voters that the incumbent should be booted out. Second, you have to convince them that you would make an attractive alternative. Please explain how you would go about both of these tasks with regard specifically to Vince Callahan.
The reason to elect a delegate to the General Assembly is to have him or her represent us, and be an advocate for our interests in the core government services we have a right to expect: education, infrastructure, public health and safety, environmental and community viability. Our current delegate has served since 1968 and serves in a leadership position in the House. He knows the General Assembly, and one would expect him to know his district. But the district has changed over the years and he has not. Otherwise, he would not support a proposal that relies on $250 million annually of General Fund revenue, normally devoted to education, public safety, and other services, to pay for transportation. He apparently cares more about his small leadership circle in Richmond than for his constituents. We need honest, realistic solutions for our funding problems. I have served in government at the national, state, and local levels for thirty years on the issues most important to the people in the 34th District, and I know how to work across party lines to get results. I'm experienced and effective; that's why I'm running, and that's why I will win.
2) Please tell us about your roots in the community and also about your reasons for seeking public office in the Virginia House of Delegates.
I have lived in northern Virginia my entire adult life, and I have lived in the 34th District in the same home in McLean since 1984. I have been involved in my church, my children's schools, and my community as a member of the Claude Moore Colonial Farm board and as a member of the Safe Community Coalition, a grassroots organization for the safety and wellness of children in our area. My husband Bob ran the McLean Youth Basketball program for five years. The volunteer based Arts and Humanities Program I started at Churchill Road Elementary School is still going strong today. Our entire family believes in public service and in working to improve our community. That ethic drives my desire for a seat in the General Assembly.
3) Why should Democratic voters nominate you and not your opponent?
As I wrote in my blog response, my primary opponent is a good Democrat and a good guy. I offer a breadth and depth of experience in Democratic Party activism, and as a public servant working for years on issues important to the people in the 34th: district, particularly transportation, land use, environment, and community development. I have also worked hard for over twenty years to elect good Democrats to all levels of government. And I have been successful in getting results for the projects I've worked on at national, state, and local levels.
4) Please describe your political philosophy - progressive, moderate, conservative, or none of the above - and how that philosophy meshes with the 34th District.
I am a social progressive and a fiscal moderate. I think my philosophy meshes well with the people in this district, many of whom work in or with the public sector and therefore understand the importance of transparency and accountability for public funds.
5) What, in your opinion, are the top 3 most important problems facing Virginia right now, and what will you do about them?
The three most important problems facing Virginia right now are subsumed under one over-arching problem: the economic disparity within the Commonwealth. It became the theme of Mark Warner's 2001 gubernatorial campaign for "One Virginia". For the prosperous "urban crescent" that stretches from northern Virginia to Richmond and through the Hampton Roads area, the issues of education, transportation, and growth present remarkably different challenges from the ones facing our economically stressed rural regions.
Here in the 34th District, people might be shocked to learn that outside northern Virginia, 50% of Virginians have a high school education or less. While we deal with highly diverse student populations that require staffing and curriculum flexibility, there are entire school districts in Virginia that struggle with the goal of graduating their high school seniors. Early education programs, such as the one proposed by Governor Kaine, could address challenges for both of these populations.
On traffic, we are choking on congestion and falling behind in our ability to maintain existing infrastructure in the face of new construction requirements. Gridlock stories are common conversation themes. There are parts of Virginia, however, where the promise of a new road - or paving an existing one - is seen as the key to an elusive economic stability.
Finally, here in northern Virginia we are justifiably proud of our booming economy, and we provide the lion's share of revenues to the state treasury. But explosive growth is aggravating our traffic problems, pushing housing and development farther away from our urban centers, and degrading our environment. In the "other" Virginia where once prosperous industries have been in decline for decades, the local officials covet our problems and strategize how to acquire some of them. We pay dearly for their lack of health care, their substantial social service requirements, and in the General Assembly, with their impatience with us. Governor Warner had it right: until we acknowledge that we are all part of "One Virginia", these three important problems of education, transportation, and growth will continue to challenge us here and statewide.
6) How would you pay for needed transportation investments in Virginia: a) raise the gas tax; b) raise user fees; c) dip into the General Fund; d) borrow; or e) other (please explain)?
I believe transportation funding requires dedicated, sufficient, and sustainable sources. It should not compete with general funds for education, public health and safety, and other core government services. Most states have adopted that approach. I believe that some combination of the Governor's and the Senate's proposals for user based fees provide the best sources for funding transportation long term because they provide predictable, ongoing revenue streams.
7) Do you support embryonic stem cell research? Would you favor putting this issue to a referendum of Virginia voters?
I am a supporter of embryonic stem cell research. The advances in the techniques of using stem cells and in the application of the research from those broader sources offer great hope to people with grave illnesses who currently wait for medical breakthroughs. As a member of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, I have learned firsthand how important these research applications can be. I see no reason to put this issue to referendum; the evidence of its importance should be compelling enough to make our leaders stand up for allowing these techniques to be used for medical research.
8) What is your opinion of the "Dillon Rule," which severely limits the power of local government vis-+á-vis the state? In general, do you believe in delegating more power to the localities, or keeping it more in Richmond?
It would be hard to keep "more" power in Richmond! Virginia is one of a handful of strict Dillon rule states left in the country. The problem is evident in northern Virginia in the ability of localities to manage growth and have it correspond to infrastructure requirements. The most onerous aspect of the Dillon rule - and a main reason I am running for office - is that state legislators try to pass off the requirements for new programs and funding to the localities without giving them either the power or the funds to make them work. They say we "can't pave our way out of traffic congestion" and then kill the land use bills that would help us manage growth. And we're severely under funded on education. We won't see the end of the Dillon rule in the near term, but reconciling mandates, authority, and funding would be a good start to better government.
9) Do you see the Massachusetts universal health care plan as a model for Virginia?
The jury is still out on the Massachusetts universal health care plan. California and Vermont are also looking at universal coverage proposals. Though complicated, the Massachusetts model includes as a component an insurance Connector, an independent state authority, described as a kind of "marketplace" for insurance offered to individuals without employer sponsored coverage. The concept is a good one, and it may be useful as part of the solution in Virginia, particularly to capture the uninsured and allow small businesses to participate. It is too early to tell if the current Massachusetts proposal is economically sustainable.
10). If elected, what actions will you take to fight global warming and to clean up the Chesapeake Bay?
10. All the Vanderhyes are committed environmentalists; we raised our children that way. As a member of the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board in the Wilder administration, I dealt monthly with regulation issues to protect the Bay. The two biggest problems were, and are today, non point source pollution and preserving buffer areas to avoid erosion and runoff. If I am elected, I will work to reduce the impervious surfaces that are the inevitable result of development. Surface parking can be composed of filtering substances, and green roof garages can replace acres of surface parking. We need education statewide about what we build next to the water and what we put into our soil, air, and consequently, our precious Bay.
To fight global warming, we need to purchase an increasing percentage of green energy, adopt conservation expectations, starting with awareness programs in elementary schools, and boost the chances that alternative energy sources can be part of our solution. Our own agricultural sector in Virginia could create a switch grass economy where tobacco once prevailed. We could become a model for the country, and revitalize our rural regions at the same time. (that One Virginia theme again).
I think another important question, however, concerns money. The first question concerns the attitude needed to defeat an incumbent, but everyone knows that especially with a guy like Vince Callahan, dollars are needed too. The 34th district IS A DEMOCRATIC DISTRICT. It voted by very wide margins for Gov. Kaine, Sen. Webb, and AGAINST the Marshall-Newman amendment, but Vanderhye needs to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat the incumbent Republican. I hope everyone in the district and around the state realizes this and contributes to the defeat of Vince Callahan.