Virginia Senate candidates clash on key issues

Candidates for the 39th District in the Virginia Senate clashed on taxes, affordable housing, immigrants, unions, and much more during a Feb. 1 forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Arlington and Alexandria City.

Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D) and Julie Robben Lineberry (R) are on the ballot for a special election on Feb. 10.

The election has been called to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Adam Ebbin, who was appointed senior advisor at Virginia’s Cannabis Control Authority by Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

The 39th District includes parts of Seven Corners and Bailey’s Crossroads, as well as large swaths of the City of Alexandria and Arlington County.

Residents of these precincts in Mason District are eligible to vote in the special election: Bailey’s (501), Glen Forest (505), Holmes (506), Plaza (509), Crossroads (514), Willston (517), and Skyline (520). Early voting is underway at the Mason Government Center. Visit this page for voting information.

Bennett-Parker currently represents the 5th District in the House of Delegates and previously served on the Alexandria City Council and as vice mayor of Alexandria. If elected to the Senate, she said she would “continue to support policies that would protect our communities and strengthen our democracy.”

Lineberry, a real estate agent and first-time candidate, spent 11 years on the Alexandria Electoral Board, including a stint as chair. Lineberry said she decided to run “to bring civility back into politics.”

“I’m running for the 39th district,” she said. “I’m not running against or for Donald Trump. I don’t think the issues here have to do with national issues.”

Here’s how the candidates responded to questions at the forum:

Affordability

The big issue here is affordability, Lineberry said. “You cannot make things more affordable by increasing taxes,” she said, citing proposals that would impose taxes on food deliveries, services, and even dog walkers.

“We need to have accountability for all the millions and billions of dollars that have been allocated for all kinds of problems that were supposed to be solved in the last 25 years, none of which have been solved,” she said.

Bennett-Parker said, “Virginia families deserve a fairer tax system that lowers the cost of living and lessens the burden on working families. Currently, someone earning $17,001 a year pays the same tax rate as a billionaire, and that’s not fair.”

She supports legislation to fix that by adjusting the rate for those earning more than $1 million a year. If that bill passes, she said, it would generate $1.5 billion, which could be used to lower the cost of health insurance premiums and reduce taxes for low and middle-income Virginians to help them afford essentials like groceries and housing.

In response to Lineberry’s comments about taxes on services, Bennett-Parker said that proposal is included in one bill, which has been introduced for the past five years and never even made it out of committee.

Immigrant safety

When asked about safety for immigrants in light of the situation in Minneapolis, Bennett-Parker said she supports bills in the General Assembly to require the termination of agreements between ICE and local law enforcement; ban immigration enforcement at schools, hospitals, courts, and attorneys’ offices; and ensure a child can’t be denied access to public education because of their actual or perceived immigration status.

“Virginians deserve to live in communities where masked, armed, and unaccountable immigration agents cannot simply murder or snatch them away,” Bennett-Parker said. “I want to live in a Virginia where families are not ripped apart because of immigration status and where the government does not use fear as a weapon.” She vowed to fight for a commonwealth “that protects due process, respects human dignity, and recognizes that immigrants make our community stronger.”

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“Since we’re talking about the 39th district,” Lineberry countered, “what Minneapolis violence and what Minneapolis horrors have you seen happening in Virginia?” As a substitute teacher in the Alexandria school system, she isn’t seeing children who are afraid. “The fear is coming from adults who are telling them they should be afraid.” What they need, she said, is expanded instruction on English as a second language.

“Immigrants are very smart,” and many are U.S. citizens, Lineberry said. “We don’t have to turn every person of brown or yellow skin into a low-paid, ignorant person.”

Redistricting

Bennett-Parker supports the proposed constitutional amendment that would give voters the opportunity to vote on whether mid-decade redistricting should be allowed in Virginia.

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. And right now, they are under threat. President Trump has demanded that Republican-controlled states across the country take the unprecedented step of redrawing new congressional maps in time for the mid-term elections.”

This amendment, HJ4, “was very narrowly crafted and can only go into effect if another state has taken action, which has happened,” she said. “This amendment is a temporary, one-time exception” that ensures the bipartisan redistricting process will resume after the 2030 census.

Lineberry doesn’t support the redistricting proposal, citing the costs of so many recent pop-up elections in the 39th District.

Tysons casino

When asked about legislation under consideration on a casino in Tysons, Lineberry said she doesn’t think we need another casino in Virginia. If the bill passes, Fairfax County would be authorized to hold a referendum on the issue.

There are other ways to strengthen Northern Virginia’s economy and boost revenue, Bennet-Parker said, such as encouraging more investment in technology, including AI, quantum computing, biotech, and semiconductors.

Housing costs

When asked about housing affordability, Lineberry said she opposes pending legislation to increase taxes on investments for people with incomes over $500,000. She also called for more homeownership opportunities by allowing developers to convert rental housing into condos, co-ops, or townhouses.  

Bennett-Parker spoke about legislation she introduced in the House of Delegates to preserve existing affordable housing and prevent evictions by setting up payment plans for people who owe less than one month’s rent.

Utility costs

Reducing energy costs and supporting alternative energy is one way to reduce the cost of living, said Bennett-Parker. She has introduced legislation in the House to promote energy-efficient buildings and homes, which would result in approximately $11,500 savings per home.

She also supports bills to encourage energy-efficient upgrades for low-income Virginians, expand solar, and have the state rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. In its first two years, RGGI provided $250 million to improve energy efficiency, she said.

Lineberry said people of all incomes have been seeing increases in their electric bills. “Could we have just sent a $2,000 check to people below a certain income to help them pay their electric bills?”

Right to work

Lineberry would retain Virginia’s right-to-work law. She criticized proposals that would encourage people who work in assisted living and retirement homes to unionize. And she doesn’t think teacher unions have helped raise the pay and improve working conditions for teachers.   

Bennett-Parker, who’s been endorsed by several unions, supports repealing right-to-work, noting that the current law limits the right of workers to bargain for fair wages, benefits, and workplace safety. Unions brought Americans eight-hour days and paid holidays, she added.

Car tax

Both candidates support the repeal of Virginia’s personal property tax, known as the car tax.

Noting that families depend on their cars, Lineberry said, “we are taxing them to death.” Although about 79 percent of residents want to do away with the car tax, it won’t happen because local communities depend on the revenue, she said.

Bennett-Parker voted for a resolution passed by the House of Delegates on Jan. 30 calling for a study of the feasibility of repealing the car tax.  

“Even though everyone hates this tax,” she said, the reason it hasn’t been abolished is because it generates $4 billion for localities. “We need to figure out how we are adjusting for that,” she said, because otherwise, localities will raise property taxes.   

Voting

The candidates were asked if they think Virginia should join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which calls for the president to be elected by a popular vote, rather than the current “winner-take-all system” based on which candidates get all of a state’s electoral votes.

Lineberry said No. “Virginia has a very good voting system,” she said. “We don’t need to do ranked voting. We don’t need to do any of those faddy things. It’s been working for 250 years.”

We need to make sure polling places are accessible, she said; that they have sidewalks, parking, and public buses that stop close by.

Bennett-Parker supports the compact. Whoever gets the most votes should win the presidency, and candidates should campaign everywhere, not just in swing states, she said. “Our current system ignores the voices of millions of voters across the country.”