Roscoe Reynolds has represented Southside in the Senate of Virginia since 1997. During that 14 year period, the region has hemorrhaged jobs, as evidenced by the latest jobs data on the district released yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment rose in every locality between July and August, with the highest rate coming from the city of Martinsville, where almost 20 percent of residents are currently unemployed. To his Republican challenger, Sen. Bill Stanley, that number is simply unacceptable.
In an email to supporters, Sen. Stanley wrote that the latest unemployment data make him “cringe,” then attempted to nationalize the senate race by tying Sen. Reynolds to President Obama and the Washington Democrats:
“Back in 2009, the Martinsville Bulletin quoted Reynolds as saying, ‘Thank goodness for the stimulus package.’ Two years later, the results indicate there is little in that failed stimulus to be thankful about, as the federal government has grown to its largest size in history by borrowing 42 cents of every dollar it spends. Job creation has been brought to a halt and we are all on the hook for a debt that will burden Americans for generations to come.
Sen. Stanley went on to outline his conservative vision for job growth on the Southside–and expressed his eagerness to return to Richmond to work with our Commonwealth’s effective and popular governor:
“There are solutions to this situation. We can lower taxes on businesses to encourage job creation, provide added incentives for our existing businesses to grow and others to locate here, reduce the regulatory burden, and recommit to workforce education. But, these obvious solutions will never be embraced by the Obama Administration or Roscoe Reynolds.
For his part, Sen. Reynolds is airing ads now that tout his efforts at battling AEP over its electric rate increase last year. Granted, electric rate increases are an added burden to those without jobs, but when the unemployment rate in parts of your district is over 10 percent–and has been so for multiple years–electric rates don’t appear to be the most pressing problem facing Southside residents.
If Bill Stanley can keep the campaign’s focus on jobs and the economy, as well as tie Sen. Reynolds to the unpopular economic policies of the Obama Administration, Southside might finally see a glimmer of hope on the jobs front.
