With the race for Virginia’s 2nd House District set to conclude on January 5th, Democratic nominee, Candi King, has embarked on a district-wide tour of Prince William and Stafford County, eager to resonate with potential voters amid painstakingly low early voting turnout. At the time of publication, only 531 eligible voters have cast their ballot in the general election between King and Republican nominee, Heather Mitchell, inducing much anxiety among a Democratic electorate seeking to maintain control of Jennifer Carroll Foy’s former seat in the House of Delegates.

On Saturday, King, alongside gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, took a visit to Belmont Bay to share her vision with local residents in Prince William County.

The PW Perspective sat down with King to discuss her views on education, police relations, and campaign finance.

We first asked King what she plans to accomplish as Delegate regarding educational advancement for Black and Brown students, to which she responded, “As a mother of three children and a mentor to several others, I understand the challenges they face in schools, so I will seek to provide more funding to make it more equitable for them to be successful, especially during this pandemic.”

As the mother of a special needs child, King remarked that she would seek to reduce the wavier period for special need students across the Commonwealth, stating, “We need better transition programs for young adults with special needs. It took ten years for our child, and for many young adults, it’s even longer. That has to change and I will look into reducing or removing the waiver altogether.”

Moving onto police reform, we asked King about her plans to enhance police relations within Prince William County, and across our Commonwealth. “My husband is in law enforcement, so I get a firsthand view of what should be done,” said King. “Our officers need both to be supported and to be held accountable. It starts with providing funding for training officers to de-escalate situations.”

Regarding the recent proposal regarding civilian review boards for law enforcement, King agreed that they are necessary to create a level of transparency, especially given the recent appointment of Prince William County’s newest Chief of Police, Peter Newsham. “Although it is unfortunate to bring him on, this does present an opportunity to require accountability of our police department, and we need to have officers that represent diverse backgrounds.”, shared King. “This is especially important in our Latinx communities, where the need for more Spanish-speaking officers is a must.”

According to Virginia Public Access Project, King has outspent her Republican opponent Heather Mitchell by approximately $75,000, but while Democrats laud her fundraising prowess, many progressives have criticized her decision to accept a recent $5000 donation from Dominion Energy, an energy monopoly with a history of environmental racism. When pressed about her campaign’s decision to accept contributions from Dominion, King responded, “I told Dominion directly that they have a responsibility and that I will hold them accountable. It’s difficult to run campaigns without financing, and although I did receive money from Dominion, I told them that I would not be bought by corporate dollars.”

Concluding our time together, former Governor Terry McAuliffe, who has endorsed King, told the PW Perspective: “This is a critical seat that we need to maintain Democratic control. Candi King is the right person for the people of the 2nd district. Our teachers are some of the lowest paid in the county, they are 50th out of the 50 states. We need broadband access in several counties as well as state-wide Pre-K. Her sister is a teacher, so she understands the needs of our educational system.”

“She is a fighter for Virginia families,” he continued. “We need a delegate who has the best interests of the people at heart, and that is what Candi King is going to become.”

After our interview concluded, King and McAuliffe issued the following video announcement encouraging residents of the 2nd-District to vote on Tuesday, January 5th, between the hours of 6 AM and 7 PM at their regular polling location.