The decennial redistricting of Virginia’s General Assembly districts means many voters find themselves in unfamiliar territory when it comes to their incumbent legislators, and vice versa.
Such is at least somewhat the case in the new 37th Senate District, which stretches from the city of Falls Church westward, taking in Tysons, Vienna and Merrifield along the way. State Sen. Chap Petersen (D), who has represented some of those areas during his tenure in Richmond, now has some new constituents to introduce himself to.
In the upcoming June 20 primary – for which voting already has begun – Petersen is being challenged by party activist Saddam Salim, who has won support from those who believe Petersen is both too conservative and too independent-minded for the modern-day, ever-more-left Democratic Party activist class and the party leadership that is scared to cross it.
And yet it is Petersen’s independence of thought that endears him to so many constituents who want to see results, not ideological fealty.
When Democrats in Northern Virginia (and in the legislature) had embarked on a lockdowns-today-lockdowns-tomorrow-lockdowns-forever approach to public schooling the COVID era, Petersen was a key to bringing sanity back and getting the student masses back in their classes. He also is a voice of moderation on many other issues where Democrats have tacked too far left (just as Republicans have tacked too far right).
Independent-minded politicians can be infuriating at times; they are never going to make everyone happy in following their own muse. But Petersen has proved himself, and unless one is a far-left activist wishing to remove any traces of centrism left in the party’s General Assembly caucus, he is the preferred candidate in this race.
Chap Petersen has earned the nod of Democrats on June 20.
