Women & Politics - Meet the Candidates with Senator Barbara Favola and Heidi Drauschak - 97.3 wrir

It’s campaign season and we are checking in with candidates all over the state:

Senator Barbara Favola

“Senator Favola is a whip in the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus. She chairs the Virginia Senate’s Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee, as well as serving on the Local Government Committee, Transportation Committee, Rules Committee, and Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee. She is a member and former Chair of the Virginia Advisory Committee for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, Chair of the Senate Women’s Health Care Caucus, and a member and former Chair of Virginia’s Commission on Youth.

She served on Governor McAuliffe’s Climate Change and Resiliency Update Commission and served on the Disability Commission and the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Education. Senator Favola serves on the Advisory Board of Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs and is a former member of the Board of the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.

Prior to her election as a State Senator, Barbara Favola served on the Arlington County Board for fourteen years (1997-2011) and chaired that body three times. During her service with the County, Senator Favola was the Board’s leading advocate for children, youth, and families, and her contributions to the community include establishing mental health services in the public schools.”

Heidi Drauschak

Heidi Drauschak is a resident of Springfield, Virginia, an expectant mother, and a driven professional who holds a law degree and MBA from the University of Richmond, Virginia. Heidi had an early interest in state government, which led her to found CrowdLobby, an organization dedicated to giving everyday people access to lobbyists through crowdfunded campaigns. Her drive to make a positive impact in society has remained constant, and she believes that corporate interests are overrunning the government and more needs to be done to give ordinary people honest access to their legislators.

Heidi has helped found and run a non-partisan good governance organization focused on campaign finance reform, government transparency, and increased citizen engagement in Virginia. She now works with her husband in their own consultancy firm and spends her free time participating as an executive committee member at BigMoneyOutVA, advocating for campaign finance reform in Virginia.

After years of being told by legislators that these structural issues were not a priority, Heidi decided to take action and seek change from within the legislature itself. Heidi is thrilled to be seeking the Democratic nomination for Virginia’s newly redrawn 35th Senate District. She has a passion for promoting honest and transparent governance that represents the interests of everyday people. With her vast experience in public service, Heidi is poised to make a difference in Virginia’s state government and beyond.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Follow our show on our social media on twitter, facebook, and our blog – look for womenpoliticsva