ROANOKE, Va. – In a matter of days, Virginia will have new Republican leadership in the state House and the House of Delegates.
“I think we have a lot of new blood, fresh faces, you know, in Southwest Virginia that are going to be, you know, representing us in the House of Delegates,” said Republican Delegate-Elect Marie March of the New River Valley.
March says her top priority is restoring the rights of those she represents.
“There’s been a lot of infringement our rights and that’s been kind of, you know, the underlying theme across my district,” March said.
For returning Democratic Delegate Sam Rasoul of the Roanoke Valley, he says it’s another chance to put the needs of Southwest Virginia first.
“I’ve always tried to do everything that we can add to represent our region and make sure that our part of the state receives the investment and attention that it deserves, I look forward to continuing to do that this session and I know that we’ll be able to get some good things,” Rasoul said.
One of his pieces of legislation proposes the state look into changing Catawaba Hospital in Roanoke County into a recovery and treatment center.
“I want us to not just deal with mental health and substance abuse for tables are meant to be. So imagine a state-of-the-art facility that can be built on like a topic campus where we can only do what they do in Catawaba right now, but expand that out,” Rasoul said.
With a Democratic majority in the Senate, legislators may have a hard time agreeing on what gets to Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s desk. However, both hope the voices of people in Southwest Virginia can be heard in Richmond.