News release Sept 8 2023:

 
‘Let’s focus on the issues that affect all of us,’ State Senate candidate Ken Reid tells campaign kickoff – notably, improving student learning, reducing toll burden on I-66 and I-495, tackling crime and achieving better health outcomes   

Former members of Congress Frank Wolf and Tom Davis tout Reid’s record as a pragmatist in his 10- years serving in municipal and county office in Loudoun

VIENNA, VA:  Ken Reid, who was undefeated in four municipal elections in Loudoun, accomplishing much in the way of transportation, fiscal responsibility, job creation and deregulation in his 10 years in office, formally kicked off his campaign for Virginia State Senate, District 37, at a fundraiser Sept. 7 at the Vienna Vintner. 

The new 37th district includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, Town of Vienna, Oakton, Dunn Loring, Merrifield, Tysons, Idylwood and Pimmit Hills.  It was represented as the 34th district by Sen. Chap Petersen (D), who lost his nomination in the June 20th primary.  Reid served as a councilmember and county supervisor (2006 to 2017), and currently is the renter representative on the Fairfax County Landlord-Tenant Commission.   

“We have media saturation on issues like transgender bathrooms, abortion, and LGBTQ.  While those are important issues to discuss, they only impact a small number of constituents. In this campaign, and if elected, I want to focus on the issues that affect all of us,” Reid, who lives in Tysons, told the kickoff attendees.   The election is Nov. 7.

With his son, Jamie, present – who was educated in Loudoun Public Schools and graduated Flint Hill School with his twin sister, Lara -- Reid pointed to statistics showing average SAT scores have dropped across the County, even at the better high schools.  In addition, Standards of Learning (SOL) scores – such as in schools in the Providence District –saw only 64% of students were proficient in math, down from 85% in 2020.  Reading proficiency has dropped from 81 to 73%, and Virginia wide, SOL scores are flat.  

Reid said more money is not the only answer, though he supports revising the state formula that disadvantages Fairfax and other Northern Virginia jurisdictions, but better accountability of how funds are spent by districts.  

“And, we still have a traffic congestion problem,” said Reid, who was an activist in this area for 10 years prior to his first election to office in 2006.

Wearing his signature yellow tie featuring buses, cars and trucks, Reid and Former U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf denounced the December 2022 decision by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)  to require 3 passengers in a car to use the I-66 express toll lanes and inside the Beltway for free during rush hour, whereas it was HOV-2 before.

Reid said he supports Wolf’s proposal to enact laws, as Florida has done, to rebate frequent single occupancy vehicle toll payers or provide a reduction in HOV 2 usage fees, not just on I-66 but the Capital Beltway (495) toll lanes, as a way to increase usage and relieve congestion on the main roadways.   

Wolf, who represented Fairfax and other NoVa counties and cities from 1981 to 2015 in the U.S. House of Representatives, told the packed room: “You can’t get a consistent carpool with HOV 3!”   

He said Reid’s race “is winnable” because “all of the issues he wants to work are the ones that will make a difference whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent.”  

During his 10 years in office, Reid supported conservative positions on national issues, but said “I always focused on the practical for my constituents.  I could not have been elected in Leesburg four times without votes from Democrats and Independents.”

Reid also discussed repealing the legislative authority for a plastic grocery bag tax which he called “a nuisance tax;” revising a number of “police reforms” that have led to a crime wave and police staffing shortages; supporting legislation to seize the assets of people convicted of trafficking to fund aid for the victims, creating a partnership with businesses that need workers to hire and train at-risk youth ages 14 and 15 to help them get out of bad environments and develop job and personal leadership skills. 

A former editor and publisher of news publications that monitored the workings of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Reid also said health care is still a “problem despite Obamacare and the Medicaid expansion” in Virginia.  The candidate noted his 65th birthday was today (Sept. 8) “and I am now Medicare eligible.”

He proposed support for studying if Medicaid could reduce hospitalizations for heart disease and diabetes treatment by paying for obesity drugs (which are awaiting FDA approval) and weight reduction surgeries.  Statistics show obesity, heart disease, cancer and respiratory illnesses are acute in lower-income populations and much more costly to taxpayers than preventive care. “Obamacare provided people with coverage – but did it help with better health outcomes?” he asked.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, who also represented much of Fairfax County (1995-2008), and served as Fairfax County Board Chair, said: “What I like about Ken is he is not an ideologue, but a pragmatist and problem solver. (The) reason we have rail to Dulles is Ken cast the deciding vote on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors [July 2012] to bring it out here.”  Read more about that pivotal vote   here. 

“We have a candidate we can be proud of, not ashamed of. He has the smarts to do it.  He’s been involved with transportation and education, which are critical issues.  They [Democrats] have a candidate who is an embarrassment and doesn’t know much about the legislature.  His big issue is supporting mask mandates [for children in schools] and masks could be coming back. More kids died from drowning in swimming pools over the past 3 years than COVID.”Davis and his wife, former state Sen. and Del. JeanneMarie Devolites Davis,  are voters in the 37th District, much of which she represented in Richmond.

“I just can’t imagine being represented by his opponent,” she said. “He's very nice personally, but I like to call them 'regressives' because I don’t know what is Progresssive about what he is saying. He's very socialist in what he is saying and this is not something we need in our country or in Northern Virginia. I think the Democrats will have a challenge in their caucus with him, too.  Ken, we look forward to you representing us.”

Rabbi Chessy Deitsch, of CHABAD Tysons, where Ken attends Friday prayer services, gave the benediction and blew the shofar, which is sounded this time of year for the upcoming Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays.“Ken is a person who not just doesn’t forget the people when he gets into office but goes out to the people once he gets into office,” the rabbi said.

Photos of the event are available at www.facebook.com/KenReidStateSenate and video links follow:  
Introductionshttps://studio.youtube.com/video/z2VF_FLZn-k/edit
Wolf speechhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpSOuKEd7Qo
Davis speecheshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv5hNJ3D7wk
Reid speechhttps://youtu.be/jLNg17woZZw
Rabbi Chessy Deitsch benediction and shofar blowinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kDTbHuN2mI
Ken’s web site is www.KenReid.org 
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