“These aren’t issues that affect me.”
“My voice doesn’t make a difference.”
“Registration is a lot of work.”
These are a few of the countless, illegitimate excuses people use to avoid voting. Only an estimated 45 percent of countries throughout the world hold what is considered open and free democratic elections. Squandering the privilege to vote goes against the very ideals of the United States. As originally intended, America is supposed to be a government  “of the people, for the people, by the people.” By ignoring one’s civic duty to contribute to local and national stances, one is disregarding the simple truth that every vote matters. Countless elections have been won or lost based on a marginal percentile. Every issue is unequivocally important to the formation of local and national policies and will affect every citizen in one form or another.
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Via Fairfax County Government
Senate
Timothy A. Kaine- Democratic Party
Incumbent Senator Tim Kaine has a lengthy political history ranging from his time on Virginia City Council in 1994, his term as Governor of Virginia, to his Vice Presidential Candidacy in 2016 when he shared a ticket with Hillary Clinton. Kaine has been praised for separating his personal beliefs from what he believes to be best for the country. Kaine has been a strong advocate for women’s health, supporting Roe v. Wade, fighting for comprehensive sex education rather than abstinence-only and endorsing laws that would provide women with birth control from their employers. Kaine has openly condemned those who deny climate change and has endorse wind turbines, coal production cleaners and the development of further solar energy. Kaine has vocally stated his beliefs that there can be gun regulations without infringing on one’s rights to bear arms. This attempt at a bipartisan approach to gun regulation would include expansions on background checks. His stance on regulating the purchase and sales of weapons is a direct result of witnessing the heartache that ensued after the Virginia Tech Shooting during his time as Governor. Kaine is strongly aligned with the national Democratic stance on immigration, advocating for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and comprehensive immigration programs that would allow illegal immigrants to stay in the United States. Main critics of Kaine’s policies are the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who have denounced  Kaine and his private practice of Catholicism while advocating for abortion and LBTQA+ rights. Further criticisms of Kaine were due to his receiving of $160,000 worth of gifts in the forms of air fare, travel expenses, clothing and concert tickets from various donors. Despite these gifts being disclosed and legal according to Virginia law, they were cause for speculation and criticism from the Republican Party.
Campaign Website: https://www.kaine.senate.gov/issues
Via The Official Website of Tim Kaine
Corey A. Stewart: Republican Party
Currently serving as the Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Stewart has made a name for himself amongst conservatives. Since assuming office in 2006, Stewart initiated several hardline stances on immigration. He helped pass several resolutions targeting illegal immigrants, including ones that allow for the Prince William Police department to search the immigration status of any person. Stewart is also responsible for a resolution that blocks illegal immigrants from receiving federal assistance in regards to drug counseling, public housing and other social services. Known as a strong advocate for gun rights, Stewart battled for Prince WIlliam to reduce their conceal carry permit fee to $15 from a previous $50. A sworn Trump supporter, Stewart has recently received backlash for his ties to Paul Nehlen, a known white supremacist. This controversy has led many of his base voters to question the direction his candidacy would lead to.  Despite these allegations, there are still many voters that recognize all that Stewart has done to improve the Northern Virginia area. Under his terms as Chairman, millions of dollars have been allocated to improving Route One, soccer and baseball fields for public recreation, remodeling of schools, the building of a new Mosque in Gainesville and addressing other day to day concerns of residents. Currently, his campaign stances are in line with the Republican party including “a strong crackdown on illegal immigration, defending one’s rights to bear arms [and] a vow to fight for the defunding of Planned Parenthood” while continuing to focus on local education and infrastructure.
Campaign Website: https://www.coreystewart.com
Via The Official Website of Corey A. Stewart
Matt J. Waters: Libertarian Party
George Mason University Alum Matt Waters is primarily running his campaign on limiting the scope of the Federal Government. Main priorities and promises of his campaign include to contribute in whatever way possible to reducing and limiting the United State’s 21 trillion dollar debt. Waters strongly believes in limiting the powers of the FBI, the Federal Reserve and privatizing Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Energy and Education. Overall, Water’s stance on issues vary depending on the topic. While Waters does support tighter border security, he also asserts that there should be pathways to legal residency for illegal immigrants in the country. His campaign extends the meaning of “pro-life” to assert that life begins at conception and to oppose the “War on Drugs” and “War on Terror” that needlessly waste lives. Most of Water’s’ policies are centered around stabilizing the value of the dollar, eliminating federal income taxes, repealing federal minimum wage, defunding Planned Parenthood and a slew of other federally run organizations. His main criticism are the lack of plausibility of many of his policies and the lack of alignment with any current federal policies and the public’s interests.
Campaign Website: https://mattwaters.com
Via Matt Waters
House Of Representative 11th District
Jeff A. Dove Jr.: Republican
Dove’s campaign is largely run on the ideological concept of the American Dream being raised by a single mother and overcoming obstacle after obstacle before enlisting in the military to serve his country. Compared to his more conservative constituents, Dove’s policies are fairly moderate. His campaign focuses include reducing the financial burden placed on small and medium sized businesses, reducing commute times by contributing funds to infrastructure projects, encourage transparency and monetary flexibility among healthcare providers and pro-life policies.
Campaign Website: http://www.doveforcongress.com/about
Via Dove for Congress
Gerald Edward Connolly: Democrat
Incumbent Gerald Connolly has a longstanding reputation within Virginia politics starting in 1995 by earning a seat on on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, eventually becoming Chairman of the commission until his election as Congressman in 2009. His policies are largely in line with the Democratic Party, ranging from his stances regarding the legalization of marijuana, closing of the “gun show” loophole, universal healthcare including continuing funding for Planned Parenthood, investing in solar energy, advocating for the LGBTQA+ community, fighting for DACA or legal pathways to citizenship and countless other efforts. Connolly envisions strengthening the technology market to create more jobs and ensuring communications from the Federal Government during emergencies through his recent passing of the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017. Connolly is one of the few candidates that believes in allocating funds towards the CDC for preventative gun violence research.
Campaign Website: https://connolly.house.gov
Via U.S. House of Representatives
Steven M. Porter: Libertarian
The main issues Steve Porter focuses on include immigration, gun reform, drug policies, government reform and fiscal policies. In regards to immigration reform, he believes there should be a legal path to citizenship for those already within the borders if they pose no immediate threat and cna help contribute to the economy. Going against traditionally small government views, Porter does encourage the use of government resources to aid our veterans. Porter is a strong advocate for the second amendment and wants to implement a Constitutional Carry to allow one to be able to carry in all states if they are permitted to carry in a singular state. One of the acts Porter would advocate for is the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana for recreational use as he believes it would stimulate the economy. A non-negotiable point for Porter is not supporting any budgets that would not reduce the fiscal deficit.
Campaign Website: http://www.porter4us.com
*Disclaimer this article is not representative of any one political view. Her Campus and it’s publications are non-paritsan informative pieces unless stated otherwise.