Gina Ciarcia already holds many titles; chief among them are being a veteran wife, mother, and educator. Now, she hopes to add another title in the coming months: Delegate of Virginia’s 2nd District. Recently the Republican candidate spoke with the PW Perspective about the pressing issues of the community and how she is equipped to handle them. She starts by highlighting the necessity of providing students a foundational education.

“I’m a humanities teacher, I teach a lot of history,” says Ciarcia, “and I teach the whole span of Western civilization, and in addition ancient, medieval, European and American history. I do see that we are struggling with the curriculum in our schools.”

So what are her thoughts on the Critical Race Theory debate? “Critical Race Theory is a hot topic right now, but we really need to focus on making sure our kids have the basics and fundamentals mastered. I think when we get off on these rabbit trails and try to insert a highly politicized and divisive curriculum, we rob our kids of the basics.”

“We really need a strong and history program that is rigorous and produces knowledgeable citizens in how their government works from the local to the federal level” says Ciarcia. “I think that our students should master those basics (reading, writing, arithmetic) since it’s the crux of a good education. If our children can’t express themselves well through adept writing and speaking skills then they are going to struggle no matter what field they are in. Let’s get back to basics, and let’s produce thoughtful and capable citizens.”

Next, she talks about the feedback she’s received when talking with local residents on infrastructure. “When I knock on people’s doors and talk with them, traffic becomes the number one issue. It is a problem that affects our way of life in the district. At one time or another, we have to take route 1 or 95 and that’s pretty much it.”

“When you have everybody clogged up on the roads sitting in traffic, you’re not home with your family, and it does diminish the quality of life. Traffic patterns have changed since COVID but we need to look at some of our options. More people work from home and they are happier, so I think we’re going to have more teleworking.”

She offers a solution that could help those who have to travel into places such as DC and Fairfax County. “We don’t utilize our office space as much as we should in the district. Why not utilize many of the empty offices here for businesses?”

“The Virginia Railway Express is another option, it’s not back at its full capacity pre-COVID, and who knows when it will be. We need an additional rail or increase the amount of trips so people can commute more readily,” she says.”

“We should also look into along Route 1 other than expanding it to make the flow a little bit better.:

Ciarcia emphasizes what made her decided to run. “To put it simply: the next generation. I’m a teacher of high school students and a mother of five,” she says. “I see in these kids a lot of angst and trepidation and deep concern about the things they see going on around them that I did not experience when I was their age in the mid-90’s.”

“I remember being a high school senior and being so excited about entering the world as a young adult. Going to college, I felt that America is the greatest country in the world; I was fearless. That is a rarity these days among high school students. They rightly perceive that things are tricky and they are weary of what their experience will be like as an adult. They feel the division in the country and the chaos and it brings a lot of them hesitation and anxiety. I feel that as an American it’s our responsibility to hand off our country to those who are coming behind us in a better position. It seems like we’re failing to do that.”

So how can that be done? “We all need to start where our sphere of influence is, and that’s at the local level,” she continues. “We can affect our neighborhoods, and our county, and model it for our kids to make our community better.”

“I feel and obligation and a duty, which is why I’m running.”

Although Virginia has become an increasingly diverse state politically, Ciarcia still believes that conservatism works in the commonwealth. “I believe it can, because it is the values that make this country successful and applicable to all people.”

“As a conservative I feel very strong about the family, because family is the very first place a child encounters government. A well ordered home will bring a well ordered child who will function in society. You see the family as the building block of the strong and vigorous and successful society. This is not anything new. Even from ancient times they recognize the importance of the family.”

She continues, “There are three things our American society is really built upon: order, justice and freedom. The order starts in the home with a strong family. That order then translates into the larger community at large. Nobody wants to live in chaos.”

“Regarding justice, it’s one of the bedrock characteristics of our American values that we behave justly towards one another. Injustice breeds resentment, it breeds division, anger, retaliation so we need to be just towards one another, in the way our court system is ordered. When we have this, we also have freedom.”

She recalls conversations she has had with youth about the definition of freedom and notes, “You ask students what is freedom, and they say that it’s doing what you want to do, but that’s not what it is. That definition leads to chaos.”

“It is what Thomas Hobbs talked about in Leviathan. Freedom is not doing what want to do, but doing what you ought to do. It’s far more thoughtful and controlled and how I ought to treat my neighbor, not a selfish motivation. What we find is there’s actually within these kinds of boundary lines of right acting, there’s so much freedom to be found there. When we have boundaries, there’s a lot of freedom there.”

So what does she believe is the end result of a proper understanding of these terms, “These are the roots of American order and its brings about vibrant, and productive communities and it’s applicable to everyone at any time, because it breeds success that we all want to succeed.”

Ciarcia then addresses community policing, and she brings out the necessity of understanding equal rights protections, which is something not always granted to minorities based on increased incarceration rates. “In the declaration of independence it says all are created equal. We talk about equality under the law. We don’t create titles that people of other exemptions cannot enjoy. That is regardless of race, gender we are all to be treated equally under the law. If we focus on that in the way we can police our communities, courts of justice, focus on everyone having the same equal treatment under the law, that is the best place to start right there.”

She highlights the overall view of police locally, “In looking at the satisfaction rate that the PWCPD has, it’s quite high at 96% satisfaction rate and it’s well conducted. They receive raving reviews and the dialogue between the community, elected officials and police department should be done in a way that’s productive.”

“I was knocking on doors a few weeks back and asked people what are some things that concern them. One woman, who is Black, she said to me, ‘I want police to stop killing us.’ I asked, do you have any issues with local police, and she said no. I asked if she knew anyone who had disturbing interactions, and she said no. So we need to be careful how we think about our local police department. Are there any areas in our local PWCPD that we have had that needs addressing? We need to make sure we are focusing on how the districts here are performing.”

Finally, for those undecided voters that do not know Gina Ciarcia, what is her message to them? “I truly want to represent the people of this district, not just represent my party or the people that voted for me.”

“Our country was founded on the idea of representative government, and we’ve gotten away from that. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be; your representative is supposed to listen to you, and resolve what are your biggest challenges and then they go to Richmond and represent you, not the party or the platform.”

“That’s what I want to do; I want to engage with the people of the second district. I don’t want just their vote, I want to be their voice in Richmond, not the voice of just my party.”

Ciarcia will go against Democratic candidate Candi King, who secured the nomination back in June, during the general election. The PW Perspective has officially endorsed King.