Over the last week I have spent a significant amount of time in Southwest, Virginia talking with voters about the issues they’d like the next Lt. Governor to address. After stopping in Harrisonburg to pickup petitions from the JMU Democrats and to thank them for all their hard work collecting them, I traveled along US-11 and took the time to speak with residents of Mount Crawford, Fort Defiance, Mint Spring, and Steeles Tavern. On March 31 I continued heading Southwest as I spent time with the Virginia Tech Young Democrats. It was good be with so many students who are passionate about public service and the political process. I look forward to continuing the discussion with them in the future, particularly about how I will work to make a higher education more accessible for students from all economic backgrounds.

On the evening of Friday, April 3, I went to a dinner hosted by the Russell County Fair Association at the Russell County Government Center. The event featured entertainment by Bobby McLamb, a former guest on Hee Haw – for some of you younger folks, Hee Haw was a very popular television show in my day, and Bobby McLamb is a superb performer. It was a great way to start off the weekend.

On Saturday evening Deneen and I attended the Second Annual Donkey Dance at the Salem Civic Center which was sponsored by the local Democratic Committees from Roanoke City, Salem City, Radford City, Roanoke County, Montgomery County, and Botetourt County. I am a big fan of events such as the Donkey Dance because it allows the community to come together in a festive atmosphere while still being able to discuss some of the issues that are important to Virginians. With hundreds of people in attendance, that was most definitely the case on Saturday as there was a lot of excitement in the room in regards to the ideas that the Democratic Party of Virginia represents.

As a supervisor from Russell County in Southwest Virginia, I was very pleased to see so many active Democrats in the region and was grateful for the opportunity to listen to what they had to say about the economy, educational opportunities, and a variety of other topics. While my campaign has attracted supporters from throughout the Commonwealth, my experience as a businessman and public servant in Southwest Virginia has earned me the support of well respected leaders in the community such as Congressman Rick Boucher and state Senator Phillip Puckett. I look forward to working with these leaders throughout the campaign in producing high voter turnout in the region during the primary in June and the general election in November. In addition to being good for our democratic process in the Commonwealth, I strongly believe the high turnout that we’d help to produce would also prove to be beneficial for some of the Democratic candidates in the region running for the House of Delegates.

Over the next few days, I will build on the energy from the Donkey Dance as I talk to voters in Southwest and the Richmond area. Tonight I will be attending my monthly Board of Supervisors meeting, where we will finalize our budget for the year, more on that in the days to come. As always, please feel free to get in touch with my campaign if you have any questions or want to get involved.