Keir Whitson

54, Washington, senior trade adviser, served one previous term

What are you most proud to have accomplished in your terms of office?

“First, universal high speed, fiber Internet is now on the way to the county. And although that project is not yet underway, we've already entered the contract. And hopefully, in the next couple of years, we'll have high speed fiber everywhere… And it'll go to every house in the county that currently doesn't have Comcast… Second, we completely rebuilt the refuse and recycling centers at Flatwood, and in Amissville with compactors… the third accomplishment that is really important ... To try to protect our citizens and make sure that our [fire and rescue] volunteers are supported. We now have paid high level advanced life support paramedics that are based 24 hours, seven days a week in three different locations.”

What are your biggest priorities in this election?

“Making sure that this high speed, fiber Internet project is delivered to our community on time, and when I say on time, I mean hopefully by the end of calendar year 2025, if everything goes well. Priority number two, would be reconstruction or the construction of a courthouse complex in the Town of Washington. We have serious courthouse security issues, and I want to address the security concerns, but also while preserving our historic courthouse building and the other historic government buildings around it.”

Anything else you want voters to know?

“When I was elected, I told voters that I believed as a local representative in a democracy, my job, in some funny way — I'm a customer service representative. Because in representative democracy at the most local level, if you're in Rappahannock County, I should be always available to my constituents, of which I have approximately 1,500… what I've been able to do the last almost four years, is I respond almost immediately, when a constituent calls me or writes to me and says, ‘Hey, there's a pothole in front of my house, please fill it.’”