To my neighbors in Chesterfield,
As we witness billionaires and corporate interests take over our government, it is impossible to ignore the alarming reality that something has gone deeply wrong in our country. Both at the federal level and right here in Virginia, the voices of working-class citizens largely lack representation. Instead, the politicians we elect have been supplanted by the robber baron tech billionaires, the donor class of the wealthiest individuals, and corporations.
For too long this elitist group has rigged the system and effectively bought our representatives with one goal in mind: extracting wealth from the middle- and working- classes and siphoning it into their pockets. As a direct result, we the people have seen our standard of living steadily decline. We can all feel something we hate to admit: that this system is no longer a functional representative democracy.
Make no mistake, the forces arrayed against us are quite powerful, but I take comfort in the fact we have been here before. In response to the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt fought for “A New Deal” for the American people, later championing an economic “Second Bill of Rights”. These focused on addressing massive wealth inequality, lack of workers’ rights, protections to regulate big banks and break up corporate monopolies, and job programs to remake American infrastructure. I have believed in these policies and the values that underpin them from the time they were taught to me by amazing public school teachers at Midlothian High School, and I still believe in them today as a resident of Virginia’s 73rd House District.
While reactionary billionaires in this country attempt to convert our democracy into an oligarchy, I’ve decided I cannot stand by and simply watch – and neither should you. It’s my belief that change starts at the local level, and so, I’ve decided to throw my hat in the ring to represent the 73rd District as no one currently running has presented a platform that adequately addresses the challenges we face today.
I’m Justin Woodford, and I am running to be your representative for Virginia’s 73rd district in the House of Delegates.