The Democratic committees of the Middle Peninsula gathered at Rappahannock Community College Glenns last Thursday for a candidate forum to help them determine which candidate they would like to have run in the 1st Congressional District election to oppose Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Montross) in November.
That candidate will be chosen during the Aug. 4 U.S. House of Representatives’ primary election. Early voting in the primary begins on Friday, June 19, or on Thursday, June 18 in localities where offices are closed on Friday for the Juneteenth holiday.
Six of the seven candidates running for the nomination were present at the forum: Elizabeth Dempsey Beggs of Hanover, Salaam Bhatti of Henrico, Tim Cywinski of Chesterfield, Jason Knapp of Northumberland, Ericka Kopp of Henrico, and Mel Tull of Henrico. The seventh candidate, Shannon Taylor of Henrico, was not present due to a scheduling conflict.
Joyce Major of the Middlesex Democrats gave welcoming remarks, telling those present that all the candidates had “one common, unified goal: to retire Rob Wittman.” Pam Garner of Gloucester introduced the moderator, business law professor Ronnie Cohen of Gloucester, and Cohen read the questions.
There was little time wasted. Each candidate was given 90 seconds for an introduction, as well as a chance to answer each of five questions.
Candidate backgrounds
Dempsey Beggs is a U.S. Army veteran who joined the military at 17 and was one of the first women to serve as a tank commander. After military service, she and her family moved back to Virginia, where she grew up, and she and her husband became foster parents. As a result, they’re in the process of expanding their family of four by adopting two little boys. All four children are under the age of 5, she said, and her husband has been laid off from his job as a firefighter because of DOGE cuts. (Website: elizabethforvirginia.com)
Bhatti is a public interest lawyer and a child of immigrants. His family was poor, he said, and needed such programs as WIC and free school meals to help make ends meet. He said he learned to speak English from watching television shows such as “Sesame Street.” He became an attorney and worked for the Virginia Poverty Law Center, where he helped bring about legislative policy changes to help the poor. He said the fundamentals of his campaign are Medicare for all, a tax for billionaires, and campaign finance reform. (Website: SalaamForVA.com)
Cywinski’s political career began when he was an intern in Obama’s 2008 campaign, after which he worked for “a slew of candidates, many of whom campaigned very hard and governed very soft,” he said. He then pursued an undergraduate degree while working two full-time jobs and working in the U.S. Senate. Since then, he has worked as a community organizer, first in education, and now in environmental justice with the Sierra Club of Virginia. He said that rural areas have been forgotten by both D.C. and “our party,” and his goal is to change that. (Website: votetimva.com)
Knapp, a retired U.S. Navy Commander who flew F/A-18s for 20 years, said he grew up, “like a lot of us,” surviving on Medicaid and food stamps, leaving him with “a desire to give back.” His Navy career included working at NATO and on Capitol Hill on the Armed Services Committee, he said, and post-Navy he “came into the clean air space” because he had seen the effects of climate change across the globe “and it’s something we need to focus on.” He said, “I’ve watched this Congress … continue to destroy our future … with reckless abandonment.” (Website: JasonKnappForCongress.com)
Kopp, a health care lawyer, said that “to see Rob Wittman and people in Congress destroying healthcare for you all, for us, for everyone, is despicable … and we need to hold him accountable.” She said she’s a caregiver to a disabled combat veteran, and that veterans need to be given access to the care they need. (Website: erickakopp.com)
Tull, a lawyer and U.S. Army veteran, said he’s a first-time candidate who has been active on his local Democratic committee for years. He said his wife works to take care of children every day whose families are on Medicare, and that young people such as his own children worry about finding a job, being able to afford a home, and being shipped off to “a reckless war.” He said he has 30 years of experience in law, business, and community service, focusing on economic opportunities for young people, working families and small businesses. (Website: meltullforcongress.com)
Taylor, who was not present, serves as Henrico County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, a position she was first elected to in 2011. She “continues to be a relentless champion across the county, commonwealth and country for building a fairer, more equitable justice system that keeps us all safe,” according to her website. (Website: shannontaylorva.com)
Getting MAGA votes
Asked how they would get people in “MAGA Country” to vote for them, Tull pointed to his experience with small business and his background as an Army veteran, while Kopp said she would “get at what’s important to them, what they need right now.” Knapp said his military experience has prepared him to talk to people from all backgrounds, and Cywinski said candidates must have a dialogue and share their values with people they disagree with. Bhatti said he told a Republican business owner who was concerned about campaign finance reform that he had sold all his stock, “and that resonated with him,” and Dempsey Beggs said that a candidate has to “show up and challenge (the MAGA) definition of a Democrat.”
Helping struggling families
On the question of how to help a family of four that’s struggling to make ends meet, there appeared to be consensus that it would be difficult to get anything done the first two years, but Bhatti pointed to establishing a commission to study national rent control, undoing “the big, ugly bill,” fighting for school meals, repealing the war on Iran, and establishing Medicare for All. Cywinski said he would focus on lowering taxes on the majority of people by closing corporate tax loopholes, and Knapp said that childcare costs need to be capped at 7 percent, while health care subsidies are bipartisan and could be put back into play. Kopp would like to have a moratorium on data centers, claw back Congress’s taxing authority, undo Trump’s tariffs, institute universal healthcare, and “impeach Donald Trump.” Tull wants to end the tariffs, increase cost of living subsidies, strengthen Medicare and Medicaid, increase the child tax credit, and finish bringing high speed internet to remote areas. Dempsey Beggs would work to change the tax code governing child care, end the tariffs, cap prescription costs, increase the minimum wage, tax billionaires, and exempt people making under $100,000 from paying taxes.
Restoring/preserving voting rights
Asked how they would restore and preserve voting rights, the candidates all seemed in agreement that the Supreme Court is culpable, with Cywinski saying the court should have been “stop-gapped,” Knapp saying it has become “a partisan arm of this administration,” and Kopp saying an enforceable code of ethics needs to be established and use of the shadow docket needs to be regulated. Tull would like to restore the Voting Rights Act, protect early voting and mail-in voting, and enact a nationwide ban on partisan gerrymandering. Dempsey Beggs would ban federal agents from polling locations and place age limits on justices, and Bhatti would establish neutral redistricting commissions, allow automatic voter registration, and enact campaign finance reform.
Other priorities
The candidates were asked to give their top three priorities besides the issues of voting rights and affordability, and Kopp listed broadband access and the lack of infrastructure for running water, while Tull pointed to economic opportunities for young people, high speed internet and health care. Beggs would prioritize educational infrastructure, health care, and protecting land from data centers. Bhatti said a farm bill is “long overdue,” data centers are using millions of gallons of water daily, and there needs to be a study of menhaden, and Cywinski named health care, farming and supporting a diverse economy of small businesses. Knapp was concerned about energy costs, farming and providing education with adequate support to prevent for-profits from taking it over.
Courageous action
Finally, the candidates were asked to describe a time when they took action showing courage. Knapp said his decision to run for Congress was his “biggest moment in terms of seeing something going wrong,” and Kopp said she’s one of over 100 “Courage Candidates” across the U.S. who are running to advocate for impeachment of the president. Tull spoke of a time when he had a disagreement with the CEO of his company, blew up, took responsibility, offered solutions, and ended up building rapport with the CEO, and Dempsey Beggs spoke of being the sole breadwinner for her family after her husband was laid off but resigning anyway when she felt her job was unethical. Bhatti said a moment of bravery came for him when he was ending a stump speech and said, “And for God’s sake, we’ve got to end the genocide in Gaza.” Cywinski said he has a career where he speaks truth to power, and that it’s hard. He said it shows courage when people are still believing in decency, kindness, and honesty and are finding a way to vote in spite of the circumstances.