One of the winners in the primary elections is a candidate you may not heard of, at least not yet. But she’s likely to become one of the most visible Democratic challengers on the ballot this year.
Yes, Danica Roem is the first transgender candidate in Virginia history. And yes, she’s opposing ultra-conservative Republican Bob Marshall, who introduced a bill to restrict which bathrooms transgender people can use. But what she wants to talk about is traffic.
“My mother’s been commuting up and down Route 28 for more than 30 years to provide for her family, and she’s had to sit in this miserable traffic since the 1980's. That is so wildly unacceptable.”
Driving along the state highway, she points out three intersections she says would work much better with $80 million overpasses.
“Look at how packed that is already at 2:12, and it’s been like this for 25 years. And Delegate Marshall puts in the bathroom bill. Well I guess maybe if we had a public unisex multi-stall bathroom on Route 28 in Centreville he might actually do something about it.”
She takes the road literally all the way to the bank so she can deposit a check from a political action committee known as Act Blue.
“Hi I just need to deposit a check. It’s under Friends of Danica Roem.”
That check was for $2,700 building a campaign account in what could end up being one of the most watched House races in the state.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.