“Understand That it Really is About Them”
In Episode 4, Del. David Reid explains the key to winning his Loudoun County district last November: listening. Will Democrats in 2018 follow his lead?
In Episode 4 we speak with Delegate David Reid (D-VA), who represents the 32nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. Reid, a Navy veteran and businessman, unseated a nine-year incumbent Republican in November 2017.
His keys to campaign success in a banner year for Virginia Democrats? Begin by listening to the district, hiring good people, and letting them do their jobs.
To define what his campaign would stand for, Reid asked as many people as many questions as possible. In his Eastern Loudoun County district, that led to a precisely tailored economic message: increasing college affordability, reducing tolls on a local highway, and providing full-day kindergarten for all Loudoun County residents.
“Every time I went to a door,” Reid says, “I would have a different conversation with someone, which made me a better candidate. And it made me a better delegate.”
Reid also shares lessons from his time so far in Richmond, where he’s introduced 23 pieces of legislation—second most among delegates this year.
Basic math, he says, means that delegates have to work across the aisle to get anything done. That requires making a conscious transition from campaign rhetoric to governing, which can actually makes a difference in people’s lives. Most of all he comes back to the importance of listening, and how it creates empathy for what people deal with in other parts of the state. As Reid puts it: “It is so important for people to understand that it really is about them.”
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