After finishing her day job as a social worker, Elizabeth Guzmán has spent her nearly two-hour commute back to Prince William County calling potential donors and asking for their support in recent weeks.
Guzmán didn’t mind the time spent in gridlock, because it created an opportunity to connect with voters. When she reached her destination, she found herself talking to people who had just finished work. They’d bond over the traffic headaches and discuss schools.
In one case, a teenage voter asked Guzmán why Congress struggled to put together a federal budget, and wondered who should be blamed for the government shutdown. She explained how she felt it happened and what’s at stake.
Those personal connections helped Guzmán defeat Republican incumbent Del. Ian Lovejoy on Tuesday night in House District 22, one of Virginia’s most competitive House of Delegate’s races. Guzmán secured 54.6% of the vote, according to The Associated Press, securing a return to the General Assembly, where she served for six years.
“This win is about restoring faith that government can work for people again,” Guzmán told WTOP.
Guzmán said as she knocked on doors in every precinct, a common theme emerged. Many residents expressed frustration with federal job cuts. Some showed her emails informing them they were being furloughed.
“They were sharing with me that when they were pursuing employment at the federal government, it was about a dream job, that they would have a stability,” Guzmán said. “That they will have good pay and good benefits. But Donald Trump was destroying all of it.”
Some community members expressed frustration with Department of Education cuts, Guzmán said, worrying about what will happen to services for special education students. Others, who were originally proud of the education their kids were getting at Virginia’s public universities, became frustrated and “felt that everything was under attack,” Guzmán said.
Locally, she said lawmakers need to follow recommendations from a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or JLARC, study to increase public school funding and find a way to increase teacher pay.
“The president, we don’t know how he’s going to act with Virginia,” Guzmán said. “We have seen his direct attacks to those states that have a trifecta. We don’t know how he is going to punish us for having a trifecta, and having the majority in every level of the state government.”
Guzmán said she spoke to Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger on Wednesday morning, and the two congratulated each other on successful election nights. Guzmán is eager to work with the state’s first female governor, and support the communities she bonded with over traffic jams.
“We face the same struggles,” she said.
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