O'Quinn, Osbourne vie for 5th District seat

The race for this year’s 5^th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates pits an established political operative against a former preacher turned small business owner in a contest to see who can represent a district that now stretches nearly 100 miles across the state’s southern border.

 Republican Israel O’Quinn and independent Michael Osborne must not only crisscross an area that spreads from Bristol to Galax to Hayter’s Gap as they campaign for the seat in the 100-member state House, but they must also prove to its voters that they’ve got what it takes to work with the region’s local officials to help rebuild its economy and create jobs.

Both men, whose names will appear on the ballot in the Nov. 8 election, shared their thoughts on the state’s redistricting plans and its economic recovery with the Bristol Herald Courier last week.

Members of the House of Delegates serve two-year terms and earn $17,640 each year. They also earn a stipend to set up a district office and hire someone to staff it.

REDISTRICTING

During the spring redistricting process, the area west of the New River Valley lost a seat in the House of Delegates because its total population growth between the 2000 and 2010 censuses was far outpaced by growth in other parts of the state, like Northern Virginia and the Greater Richmond area, both of which gained a seat in the House.

“That’s the thing that really triggered it for me,” O’Quinn said, adding that concerns about the slow population growth in some parts of Southwest Virginia and losses in other parts led him to seek office. “It was something I wanted to jump in there and do something about.”

Even though it shocked him, O’Quinn said there was nothing sinister about the way Southwest Virginia lost its 2^nd District seat and had its remaining five House districts stretched and expanded to fill in the territory. As part of the process, the 5^th District’s western boundary was stretched from the Washington County-Grayson County border all the way to Bristol’s western edge.

But Osborne claims the Republican-controlled House intentionally redrew the lines so two prominent Southwest Virginia Democrats – Delegate Joe Johnson, D-Abingdon, and Delegate Bud Phillips, D-Castlewood – were lumped together in the same district. Phillips retired from office because of the redistricting while Johnson switched from representing Bristol and Washington County to representing the coalfields.

“This redistricting process was not good for the people of Washington County in particular,” Osborne said.  “[Joe Johnson] was well-liked by the people of the district he has served for the past 22 years and I think that was just not right.”

THE ECONOMY

The 5^th District’s five localities – Bristol, Galax, and the counties of Grayson, Smyth and Washington – had an average unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in August, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report. Virginia’s unemployment rate was only 6.5 percent that month.

 “The first thing we need to do is call a summit of leaders in order to find ways we can attract jobs to this area,” Osborne said when asked what his plan would be to help the region rebuild its economy.

Osborne said that summit should focus on reaching a common strategy – one that includes revenue-sharing measures – which the region’s localities can follow when it comes to recruiting new businesses.

O’Quinn said this type of a cooperative arrangement is important to recruiting jobs. He also said the region should to do whatever it can to continue strengthening its public education offerings and its broadband and transportation infrastructures.

“There is no magic fix to fixing the economy,” he said, adding that coming up with ways to improve the region’s cooperation and its infrastructure will be crucial to stimulating its economic recovery.  “In a lot of cases, you really have to go out there and proactively recruit businesses.”

gmclean@bristolnews.com

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