Editor, Gazette-Journal:

When it comes to protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay, our local natural treasure, Senator Ralph Northam has been a great advocate. I have frequently heard him throughout the 6th District talking about the importance of restoring the Bay in order to ensure that our kids and grandkids will be able to enjoy it as we have.

He has repeatedly supported initiatives to protect and restore the Bay and its resources, including blue crabs, oysters and menhaden. This year, he sponsored a law that bans phosphorus, a common pollutant, in fertilizer, to ensure that runoff does not contaminate the Bay. He knows that the Bay is not only important to our environment, but also to our economy, which is all the more reason to protect it.

Ralph will have my vote in the November election because he has deep roots in our district and cares greatly about preserving the integrity of the Bay for our future generations.

Marcy Benouameur

Onemo, Va.
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