McEachin against newcomer in 4th Congressional Democratic primary
The coronavirus pandemic and the nightly protests raging across the country in the wake of the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Those issues have dominated the campaign trail in recent months as prospective voters prepare to head to the polls later this month for the 4th Congressional District Democratic primary, according to the candidates.
U. S. Rep. Donald McEachin, 58, an attorney prior to his election, will face off June 23 against first-time candidate for office Cazel Levine, a 56-yearold technology consultant and former federal employee who worked for the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Land Management. He lives in Richmond and she lives in Chesterfield.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is June 16. The request must be received by your local registrar’s office by 5 p.m., according to the state Department of Elections.
Republicans aren’t holding a primary and will choose their candidate for the General Election through a convention June 27 in Courtland.
As far as war chests, the newcomer is squaring off in an uneven race. Levine has raised no money compared to McEachin’s $469,888, according to the latest figures from the Virginia Public Access Project.
Levine’s plan to win: She says she’s running on not only national affairs, but “meat and potato” issues important to the sprawling district — which stretches from Richmond to Hampton Roads and includes parts of Suffolk and Chesapeake.
“Our rural areas still go without broadband,” Levine said. “They still give them promises of transportation increasing and job opportunities increasing but it’s never really quite happening.”
Aging schools need to be modernized, Levine said. She’s also running to support small businesses by shifting subsidies from “corporate America” to small business owners.
When it comes to the topic of George Floyd, Levine believes Congress needs to address the criminal justice issues the country has long faced. She’d like to see a commission established to address concerns raised about police brutality and people impacted by policing. She thinks there should be some sort of nationalized standard for police training.
“I would like to talk about creating some type of legislation that no one’s above the law, not even the law,” Levine said. “Just firing individuals is not enough. We’ve seen repeatedly officers not sentenced to prison terms because the statute is so high for them to be convicted.”
McEachin, who replaced Republican Randy Forbes in 2016, says he’s already working on the topic of police reform.
He is a co-sponsor on a bill called the Justice in Policing Act that was rolled out June 8. The act, among o t h e r me a s u re s, b a n s chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases at the federal level and limits the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement. It also creates a National Police Misconduct Registry that works to prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave one agency from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability.
McEachin also said he would continue to fight for environmental justice like protecting minority communities susceptible to poor air and water quality. He wants to empower people directly affected to have a seat at the table on solutions, as well as giving people the ability to sue over civil rights violations when they’re exposed to those issues.
“It’s critical we address that because it’s a form of racism,” McEachin said. “We need to attack the issue of environmental justice as part of the approach to dealing with systemic racism.”
Gordon Rago, 757-446-2601, gordon.rago @pilotonline.com