Marcia Price is the Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates District 95. Her name will appear on the ballot on Nov. 2.
Candidate: Marcia “Cia” Price
Race: Virginia House of Delegates District 95
Party: Democratic
Website: pricefordelegate.com
Biography: Del. Marcia “Cia” Price is a Democrat representing the 95th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. A 10th generation resident of Hampton Roads, Price is a lifelong advocate and public servant who is proud to represent the community who helped raise her. From passing the historic Voting Rights Act of Virginia, to protecting renters from unjust evictions and securing historic funding for education, Price has been a crucial voice for the residents of the 95th District in Richmond. She is currently running for re-election.
Why should Virginians re-elect you to the Virginia House of Delegates?
The people of the 95th District deserve a fighter; someone willing to stand up for them, and I’m proud to be that person. As a delegate, I’ve put all my effort into speaking up for those whose voices have been silenced by systemic obstacles, taking their concerns directly to Richmond, saying the things that need to be said, and doing the hard work of legislating to change lives.
The 757 is my home. I’m a 10th generation resident, and the people here helped raise me. That’s why I first ran, and why I’m running for re-election. We have delivered results on education, healthcare, voting rights, criminal justice reform, and more. But there’s so much left to do and I am up for the challenge to keep fighting until we build the Virginia that works for us all.
What do you hope to accomplish, if elected?
We listened to residents and did the work to deliver changes that the people of the 95th District deserve. This year alone, I led the charge to pass the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which protects fundamental freedoms that other states are now attacking. You can’t have a representative democracy when you’re actively cutting out communities from the democratic process.
I also fought and succeeded in providing crucial funding for communities to help prevent gun violence, protected renters from eviction during the pandemic, and secured historic funding for both K-12 and higher education. These advancements took hard work, dedication, collaboration, intense research, and negotiating skills that got results.
If re-elected, I will continue strengthening our democracy and voting rights protections, reforming our criminal justice system, expanding access to affordable housing, stopping unfair evictions, bringing more good-paying jobs to the district, making healthcare more affordable, protecting our environment for future generations, working with others to prevent gun violence in our communities, and helping ensure our children can thrive and follow their dreams.
My record is all about fighting for people who need us most, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together. If re-elected, I will continue to do the work to represent the 95th District well.
What is the most important issue facing your district, and what is your position on it?
Gun violence and its impact on our community remains a tragic reality for far too many in the 95th District. Understanding that gun violence is preventable, we have done a lot to address firearm safety, but we have to address the health, economic, education, and justice aspects of gun violence as well.
We must listen to our young people and provide them with opportunities to excel and pathways forward to success. We know what works and that’s where we are making strategic, long-term investments. This past Virginia General Assembly session, I helped secure $5.8 million for these kinds of evidence-based programs that will go directly to collaborations with community organizations in local communities like Newport News and Hampton. We must continue to work together to make sure our community is safe. Everyone can and should play a part.
What is your position on Virginia’s overall response to the coronavirus pandemic, and what might you have done differently?
I know that this has been a hard road since March 2020, and we have lost so many community members to this pandemic. The financial impact has also hit homes across the nation, but we are doing better than most states thanks to the leadership in the Virginia General Assembly and our governor.
Our decisive, science-based, and collaborative decision making was key to getting the resources to those who need it, but we aren’t out of the woods yet. We cannot allow misinformation to harm our most vulnerable communities. We can recover quicker as a Commonwealth by understanding that our individual choices impact the whole of the community.
We have already spent millions investing in free vaccinations, PPE, testing, contact tracing, rent relief, mortgage relief, utility relief, and investment in small businesses; however, more must be done at the state level to protect front-line workers and essential staff, especially those from black and brown communities, who are still disproportionately suffering due to lack of on-the-job support, threat of evictions, lack of access to the vaccine, and other issues that were only exacerbated by the pandemic.
What are the top three issues created by the coronavirus pandemic in your district, and how would you plan to address them?
Amidst an ongoing global health crisis, people in the 95th District have also had to face the increased threat of evictions, lack of equitable access to healthcare, and continuing economic fallout. While these are issues that have worsened over the past two years, make no mistake: These are issues that residents of the 95th District have faced long before COVID-19.
The pandemic has only exacerbated existing inequities. That is why I have worked hard as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates to secure targeted investments back to the 95th District, including providing help to residents by injecting millions into the Unemployment Trust Fund, Rebuild VA (a special COVID-19 small business grant fund), and a variety of healthcare initiatives. We also took advantage of federal funding to address the eviction crisis, with more than $1 billion set aside for mortgage and rent relief. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do to deliver on behalf of the people of the 95th District, but there is more to do, and if re-elected, more I will do.
