Candidate: Elizabeth Bennett-Parker Runs In 45th District House

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, 35, is the vice-mayor of the City of Alexandria. She is also running against incumbent Mark Levine in the June 8 Democratic primary.

The primary will decide who will be the Democratic candidate on the ballot for the Nov. 2 general election representing the 45th District, which covers Alexandria and portions of Arlington. Early voting for the Democratic primary is already underway.

Patch asked each of the candidates running in the Democratic primary to fill out the following profile:

Candidate's Name

Elizabeth Bennett-Parker

Age (as of Election Day)

35

Position Sought

House of Delegates 45th District

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Husband Stephen, my 99-year-old grandmother, and our rescue dog, Nori and cat, Julep

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

I serve as the Vice Mayor of Alexandria

Education

MA, University of London; BA, Cornell University

Occupation

• Vice Mayor of Alexandria, 2019-Present
• Co-Director, Together We Bake, 2016-Present
• Founder, Fruitcycle, 2014-2016
• I previously worked at the National Governors Association and served as a Fulbright Fellow.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I currently serve as the Vice Mayor of Alexandria and as the Chair of the Virginia Railway Express Board. I am also an appointed member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, the Visit Alexandria Board, and the Alexandria Library Board. I previously served as a member of Alexandria's Community Criminal Justice Board and Commission on Employment.

Campaign website

www.elizabethfordelegate.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

My mom always taught me that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I've applied that to my entire career — from starting a social enterprise to fight food waste and hunger; to co-leading a nonprofit job training program for women who are returning from the criminal justice system or experiencing homelessness or other barriers to employment; to running for City Council.

My experience on City Council has taught me a lot about the issues that are important to my community and how we need changes and more authority from Richmond to better serve our residents. In Virginia, local governments only have the authority expressly granted to us by the Commonwealth and we hear from constituents all the time who want the City Council or County Board to do things that we can’t do. There are only 18 Delegates currently serving with local city or county government experience and none of them are from Northern Virginia. Obviously, we face some different issues here than in other parts of the Commonwealth.

I want to continue serving residents of the 45th District by advocating for them in Richmond and continuing to deliver real results for our community.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is building an economy that works for all of us, and this is what I intend to do about it.

It’s often been said that Virginia is number one for business, but we need to support our small businesses now more than ever and do better for our workers. We need to expand paid family leave and paid sick leave to all our workers, raise wages so nobody working full time is living in poverty, and ensure women can re-enter the workforce after this pandemic has forced so many of them out.

Ensuring equitable access to a quality education for all our children. That starts with quality, affordable early childhood education. The first few years of a child’s life are crucial to their brain development; early childhood education is critical not only to set our children up for success, but to support working families. In this area, childcare can cost almost $2,000 a month. That’s not possible for many families, and we need to ensure more working families can access quality early childhood education.

Fighting the effects of climate change. In Alexandria, we saw three 100-year floods in a little over a year. Climate change is here, but we can work to mitigate and reverse the impacts, while building resilient infrastructure and centering vulnerable, frontline communities going forward.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The main difference is that I am fully focused on this district, and in Richmond, I will be solely focused on delivering results for my constituents.
I have a record of effective leadership, on City Council and as a nonprofit leader, and I have been able to work collaboratively and effectively with others to deliver results for our community. That’s why I’ve been endorsed by State Senator Adam Ebbin; two former Delegates who have held this seat - Marian Van Landingham and Rob Krupicka; every member of the Arlington County Board endorsing in this race including Chair Matt de Ferranti and Vice Chair Katie Cristol; Councilman John Taylor Chapman; Councilwoman Del Pepper; Mount Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck; former Mayor Bill Euille; former Alexandria NAACP President Christopher Harris; and more.

Additionally, I have an important perspective to bring to this role given my experience as a local elected official as discussed above, as well as my experience as a small business creator and a nonprofit leader.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I’m proud of our response to provide food, rental, and small business assistance (both financial and in terms of relaxed regulations). I spoke to a small business owner recently who had applied for federal, state, and local funding and only received City assistance. I am also proud that we prioritized equity in our response and led the region in terms of testing and vaccine equity. We have a higher vaccination rate amongst our Latino population than among our white population, which is important given the disproportionate rates and effects of COVID on minority communities.

The City has worked closely with nonprofit partners and other organizations to respond to the continuing challenges, from forming an eviction prevention task force to supporting food distribution efforts. When we realized that students would not have access to free meals over spring break, one month into the pandemic when many families had lost their jobs, City staff provided staffing support to keep meals going and families fed. Because of my day job, I have a food manager’s license, so I spent that week in the kitchen managing this meal preparation.

I am proud of our staff who have worked hard to continue to serve our residents. Our front-line workers, from our refuse collectors to our first responders, have faced additional challenges over the past year. And many other employees have been assigned to help with our COVID response in addition to their normal jobs, from supporting testing and vaccination efforts, to reviewing rental assistance applications. We would not have been able to respond in the ways that we did without them.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

One issue that is incredibly important to our district is our affordable housing crisis. On City Council, I have worked with my colleagues to increase funding for affordable housing and expand the number of affordable units created. As Delegate, I will work to provide localities additional authority, tools, and funding to preserve and expand affordable housing.

Additionally, we have significant work to do to address racial and social equity. We need to make sure we are providing equitable access to quality education, health care, housing, transportation, and economic opportunity, regardless of race, gender identity, ability, or zip code.

Given my work with women returning from the criminal justice system, women experiencing homelessness, and women who have recently immigrated, it is important to me that our government centers the voices of those who have been historically underserved and underrepresented.

Another issue that is so important to this district is the need to modernize our transportation infrastructure and invest in public transportation. As Chair of the Virginia Railway Express, I lead one of the largest commuter rail systems in the country, which effectively removes one lane of traffic from both 1-66 and 1-95/1-395 during rush hour. In Richmond, I will continue to work to improve transportation options and mobility for all Northern Virginians.

Voters can learn more at www.elizabethfordelegate.com

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I am proud of my record as a nonprofit leader and a small business creator, as well as my record as Vice Mayor.

Working with my colleagues, I’ve expanded access to early childhood education, increased the supply of affordable housing, enhanced outreach to residents regarding SNAP or food stamps, declared a climate emergency and took concrete actions to cut our emissions. In just the past month, we’ve passed a strong, independent community police review board and I worked with labor groups and led our efforts to pass a collective bargaining ordinance that is strong and fair for our workers, and we became the first jurisdiction in the Commonwealth to have collective bargaining in 40 years.

This kind of collaborative, results-driven leadership is why I’ve been endorsed by our State Senator Adam Ebbin; two former Delegates who have held this seat - Marian Van Landingham and Rob Krupicka; every member of the Arlington County Board endorsing in this race including Chair Matt de Ferranti, Vice Chair Katie Cristol, and Board Member Libby Garvey; Councilman John Taylor Chapman; Councilwoman Del Pepper; Mount Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck; former Mayor Bill Euille; former Alexandria NAACP President Christopher Harris; and more.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My mom always said that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. That’s something I have applied to every facet of my career.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

There are many issues important to me. If readers have questions about something that is not listed here, they are welcome to email me at elizabethfordelegate@gmail.com