The race for Virginia’s Second Congressional District will be a contested one, as the second Democratic candidate announced her campaign for the seat early Thursday morning.
Democrat Shaun Brown, who ran against current incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor in 2016, will compete for the congressional seat once more in 2018.
“My campaign will be a race to address head-on the need for a Virginia that works for all of us,” Brown said. “A Virginia where universal healthcare is the law of the land and where our rights to vote and our voices to be heard remain sacred, not subject to the whims of cynical politicians aligned with foreign governments who threaten our economic and national security and endanger our very way of life.
Brown will run against Democratic opponent Dave Belote in either a state or firehouse primary to clinch the party nomination.
Belote, who announced his candidacy one day before Brown, also serves as the chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Party. In the news release, Brown said she has asked Belote to step down as the party chair “in the interest of fairness and avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
“The Democratic Party must never lose sight of who and what we’re fighting for,” Brown said in the release. “We’re on the side of the underdog, those who’ve played by the rules, yet have still been denied a shot at the American Dream, the poor, the disaffected – black, brown and white – the children and our seniors, any and all, who share our vision and our hopes and dreams for a brighter future.”
Brown said the party’s focus now remains on state races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general as well as local elections for a new sheriff, treasurer, commissioner of revenue and several House of Delegates districts.
Because Virginia is one of two states participating in elections in 2018, Brown said the state is “uniquely positioned to lead a nationwide fighting establishing a firewall against the worst excesses of the Trump Administration.”
Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District includes the entirety of Virginia Beach and parts of the cities of Norfolk, Hampton, and Newport News. It also encompasses Accomack, Northampton and York counties, the City of Williamsburg and parts of James City County.
“Let’s never forget, there are people counting on us,” Brown said in the release. “We can’t let them down. We won’t let them down.”
News tips can be sent to Poulter at [email protected].
This article was published in partnership with WYDaily’s sister publication, Southside Daily.
