Keeping in tradition with D.C. area residents’ high level of interest in political discourse, on May 23, 2017, the Schar School of Policy and Government presented a cosponsored forum with all Virginia Lieutenant Governor candidates at George Mason University’s main campus in Fairfax, Virginia. The event was moderated by the Dean of Schar School Mark J. Rozell.
Given the political unrest, this year’s state elections have captured much attention including the office of lieutenant governor.
“Whoever is elected lieutenant governor is a likely gubernatorial candidate in four years, given the limitation that governors may not run for re-election in Virginia,” Rozell said. “Also, with a closely divided state Senate, the lieutenant governor may end up the tie-breaking vote on some very key issues.”
Dean Rozell first welcomed and posed questions to the Republican Party candidates, Glenn Davis, Bryce Reeves and Jill Vogel. Following a break, the Democratic Party candidates, Justin Fairfax, Susan Platt and Gene Rossi took the stage to answer more tough questions posed by Dean Rozell.
For at least two of the candidates, coming to Mason was a heart-warming and gratifying experience. The Republican Party candidate Bryce Reeves affectionately mentioned Mason as his alma mater, and Gene Rossi is a criminal law adjunct professor of undergraduate classes at Mason.
The forum -- presented by the Schar School, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Virginia FREE -- was a unique event where both the Democratic Party and Republican Party candidates appeared in the same evening to defend their political positions and answer questions on the minds of their constituents. The audience listened attentively as each candidate responded to a range of topics, including how to prevent Metro fare hikes, improve infrastructure, limit (or not) campaign financing, fix Medicaid, and address right-to-work laws. A recurrent theme of the discussions was to safeguard Virginia’s AAA credit rating, which is in jeopardy due to over-spending and the state’s declining rainy-day fund.
This event will be followed by a similar forum in September that will put the gubernatorial candidates in the hot seat.
On June 13, 2017, Virginia voters will select candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general; the Virginia General elections will take place on November 7, 2017.