Choices For Voters Is A Good Thing-- Virginia

 

Karishma Mehta

-by Matt Rogers
candidate, Virginia House of Delegates

This week, the people of Arlington, Virginia got the news that they will have a choice as to who they send to the House of Delegates in the 49th District in addition to the choice they will have in the 47th District-- which I am running for.

The young woman who has stepped up to run for this district is Karishma Mehta, a preschool teacher who grew up between Chattanooga, TN and Pittsburgh, PA. She went to George Washington University and is now running as a progressive challenger to represent the 49th District. The district Karishma hopes to represent comes in direct contact with the district I plan to represent in a split precinct known as "Jefferson." As of writing this, I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with Karishma, but I believe that she is running for many of the same reasons I am-- principally because we understand how impactful state government can be.

For those who don't understand the landscape of Virginia politics, it needs to be made clear that neither the 47th or the 49th districts in the Virginia House of Delegates can be considered "swing-districts." They are firmly nestled in Northern Virginia-- from which Republicans have been ousted from office in the last few years. In the 47th District and the 49th District, the general election for all intents and purposes is the primary election.

This is politics. Of course, at some point another, there will be distinctions drawn between the candidates and reasons to vote for one over the other. However, something needs to be crystal clear to the people of Arlington, as well as, to progressives across the country: voting for one candidate over the other doesn't necessarily mean that the other one is unqualified or unfit for office.

Voters need choices. Choices are good for voters. If we don't have primaries in these overwhelmingly Democratic districts, the voters essentially have no choice. In the district I'm running in, that has been the case since 2009. In 2009, "progressive" meant an entirely different thing than it does today. In 2021, the voters of the 47th and 49th districts will have the opportunity to show where their priorities lie.

That's a good thing. So is this amazing new democracy anthem by Steve Wonder with Rapsody, Cordae and Busta Rhymes. Enjoy: