The 47th and 48th districts are among the bluest of the blue districts in Virginia. In the 48th, the Democratic incumbent, Bob Brink, has blocked any chance of widening I-66 inside the beltway in the last 10 years in office. The open seat in the 47th has a Democrat challenger who is a healthcare lobbyist with the last name of Hope. Both Hope and Brink fully expect to win simply because of the “D”s next to their names. They have run lackluster campaigns and have not offered any solutions to Virginia’s transportation or budget crisis. In fact, both are calling for increased spending without any indication of where the money will come from.
Regardless, it was quite a surprise to me to hear both newcomer GOP candidates in the 47th and 48th were endorsed by the Washington Post. Eric Brescia is a 24 year old economist and proponent of personal and civil liberties. Aaron Ringel is an Iraq war veteran who supports expanding I-66.
Eric was my policy advisor last year and not only has an amazing command of the issues but an ability to formulate practical solutions to real problems. As the Post’s endorsement states he is “an independent-minded thinker who has fresh and specific ideas for how to save money in health care and make government work better.”
Aaron, who will be getting my vote, is giving Brink his first serious challenge to office and has done a good job with pushing his name everywhere he can including this very professional video.
Both Eric and Aaron have been making the case that for NoVA to get its transportation interest some traction in Richmond, where the Republicans are still the majority, there must have bi-partisan support from NoVA. As Eric ended one of his debates he said, “doing the same things year in and year out and expecting different results, well friends, that’s a plan that just plain Hopeless”
