This week we asked the two candidates for the 30th District state Senate seat to write a sub-750 word essay on why the district’s residents should vote for them on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Here is the unedited response from Timothy McGhee (R):
The People of Northern Virginia, and the 30th Senate District in particular, have a story yet to be told.
It’s a story of a People filled with history and of generations who follow those who founded a nation and those who have helped put it back together.
It’s a story of parents who love each other and simply hang out with, sing with, and love on their kids; and blessing a candidate for office with a reminder that such is common today.
It’s a story of a community that came together for the love of a game and still passes on stories of victory to a rising generation.
It’s a story of refugees who escaped their homeland running to the arms of people who represented little more than an end to oppression and a glimpse of freedom.
It’s a story of the family of former enemy combatants who went on to lead America to a pinnacle of world leadership.
It’s a story of families who love each other with little and who love each other with much.
Looking back on each of our stories so far, we can easily see that our stories are very different from one another. We all have our own needs and interests, and unless we look beyond those, we can end up pulling each other apart.
The essence of leadership is looking out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. When we talk to one another and view our lives as a People through the lens of fundamental principles, we find that we are not as divided as we may have heard. It really is possible to thread the needle on even the most difficult of differences.
The fundamentals are more important than ever during challenging times. In fact, it is by adhering to the fundamentals and correcting injustices we find that we can lay a healthy foundation for the next economy and for raising up the next generation.
As George Mason wrote in concluding the Virginia Declaration of Rights, “no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people” without “frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
We were all uniquely created for a purpose and have value for one another. Life really is about more than just having a job; it’s about having a purpose. Freedom is about creating an environment in which people are free to find and live those purposes. Justice is about living up to our promises to those who have embraced our ideals of freedom. We are a People who seek justice and love mercy.
This campaign is based entirely on making one single solitary promise of standing on the foundation of freedom that gave this country the opportunity to rise to its position of leadership: upholding the Constitutions of the United States and of Virginia, now as revised in 1971.
It is only in making one promise that a senator is then answerable exclusively to the People. Answering only to the People requires a willingness to ask questions, even when you don’t know the answers. Sometimes there are no answers other than to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
We look to our leaders for a sense of purpose, compassion, encouragement, humor and humility. This is the kind of life I seek to live, and the kind of senator I hope to be. I humbly ask for the great honor it would be to have your support. Thank you.