Shannon Kelly | Altavista Journal, October 2018
The evening was warm for October, but proved perfect for an outdoor gathering organized by the Campbell County Democratic Committee on behalf of Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District Democratic candidate, Leslie Cockburn. Hosted by Carter Elliot IV at his parents’ home, members of the NAACP, Campbell County Democratic Committee, volunteers helping with Cockburn’s campaign, campaign staff, and Leslie Cockburn herself spent time mingling and enjoying a potluck of homemade food. The evening included an address from Leslie.
Leslie Cockburn never planned on running for congress. In fact, she says, she had never wanted to run for Congress before. Coming from a 35-year career as an award-winning investigative journalist, Leslie says this move was “unusual.” Her career path took this unexpected turn in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election, particularly when the U.S. President began calling journalists the “enemy of the American people.” Some local party chairs in Rappahannock County encouraged Leslie to run for the Fifth District seat in Congress, she recounts. “I got in my car and spent three months really looking around the district, and then decided to declare. I have now put 75,000 miles on my car, which is 3 times around the world,” Leslie says. She travels all around Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District listening carefully to her constituents, identifying needs, and striving to find solutions.
The town of Altavista has been included in Leslie’s fifth district travels. She remembers most notably her visit to Virginia Technical Institute (VTI). “Training these younger generations to do highly skilled infrastructure work couldn’t be more important,” she says. “It’s important to go around and see what kind of training programs do we have? Going to VTI, I can see that that really works. Everybody gets a job that comes out of there, so if we want to replicate programs, that’s a really good model.”
Leslie has many qualities, but the one common trait that everyone who knows her mentions is that Leslie listens. “Leslie is a good fit for this county,” says Willie Thornhill, a member of the NAACP and Campbell County Democratic Committee. “She listens to the problems for all the constituents, and there’s never any hesitation to try and solve some problems. I think she has the most innovative ideas to help the people in Campbell County. If you want to move forward in this county, you need to pick someone who is going to assist you with all of the things that we need done in the county,” she continues, “and [Leslie’s] one of the ones that would help us do this.” Willie encourages everyone to vote in November, and is actively involved with helping folks to register. “People have become complacent about voting,” Willie says.
Access to affordable healthcare and environmental protections are at the forefront of Leslie’s campaign. “Healthcare was absolutely the number one issue for everyone [in Campbell County],” Leslie says. Insurance is one component of a multi-faceted crisis in health care. “I spent a day in Bedford with a whole group of people at Christian Ministries, and there the issue was, ‘I’m having to split my pill in half because I can’t afford my pills,’” she continues. “Then another piece of it was, our congressman voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I went to the Blue Ridge clinic in Nelson [County] to see how many people would be affected at Blue Ridge, and it included 1,600 children which would have no healthcare. So that’s the devastating effect of repealing the ACA.” The Affordable Care Act, Leslie explains, was meant to grant health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions. “Every time I go to an event, I ask people, raise your hand if you DON’T have a pre-existing condition. And hardly anyone raises their hand,” she notes. She also cites transportation in the fifth district as an issue she wants to improve. “How do you get to your appointments? How does your medication get to you?” Additionally, the district is facing a severe mental health crisis, as well as an opioid and methamphetamine crisis. Many individuals are unemployed due to the inability to pass a drug test, or are dying from overdoses. Veterans are another large group who struggle severely with mental health. Leslie recently spoke with a group from the Veterans of Foreign Wars “who were thinking about, how do we make a better transition for someone who’s serving to someone who gets out so that their records go electronically to the VA? That they automatically get enrolled? That they don’t have to fill out paperwork or do anything, it happens automatically? Just to make life much easier for people coming home!”
Environmental protection is another prominent concern of Leslie’s, particularly regarding dangerous pipelines and the potential repeal of the uranium ban that would have catastrophic consequences. “You can have a disastrous situation where it affects all of our water and land,” Leslie says gravely. “It’s a rural district, we care about air and land and water.” As a farmer herself – raising Red Devon cows and organic hay in Rappahannock County - protecting the environment is important on a personal level as well. Leslie is hopeful, however, of a potential “renaissance in renewable energy” in the district. “There’s this huge solar interest,” she says, and “there have been more jobs created in the U.S. by solar six times more than any other.” Indeed, Apex Energy, a Charlottesville-based solar company, will install a solar facility in Lynch Station in the coming months. “Mainly what my interest is, is giving people a voice in Washington,” Leslie explains.
Leslie and her campaigners have visited thousands of homes in addition to advertisements such as television spots and postcards, aiming to educate eligible voters and encourage them to go to the polls in November. All of Leslie’s staff come from the fifth district and are familiar with the people and issues there, she adds, whereas her opponent, Republican candidate Denver Riggleman, brings in many staff from outside.
Further information on Leslie Cockburn, her campaign, and important issues can be found on her website, lesliecockburnforcongress.com.
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