Photo courtesy of Maddox for Virginia
“A unifier, finally.”
This is the slogan Republican J.D. Maddox has chosen in his bid for the 45th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. He says if elected, he will work to heal the division caused by partisan politics.
The 45th District (map below) covers the City of Alexandria northeast of King Street, plus the Eisenhower East neighborhood, Huntington, a portion of Belle Haven in Fairfax County and part of Arlington County.
As a U.S. Army veteran, a former officer with the CIA and State Department, a small business owner and a family man, Maddox says that he has the experience necessary to address the challenging issues facing Virginia.
“Voters should elect me because I am bringing decades of real world experience to a set of problems that my competitors have simply been bad at solving,” Maddox said in a recent interview.
These issues, which he details on his campaign website, include congested roads, a broken sewer system, inadequate IT infrastructure, lack of support for small businesses and declining schools. The education system, which has been exacerbated by COVID-19 closures, is important to Maddox who has two daughters ages 9 and 10.
“What I am not seeing is legislation to handle those very fundamental problems. Instead, what I’m seeing is legislation that seems to intentionally divide the public into two camps.” He claims that the focus of some legislators has been on name calling and divisive language instead of addressing the issues that affect all residents of the 45th District. He says that he wants to remove the emotions that have seeped into politics in favor of practical governance. “I’m genuinely interested in finding bipartisan solutions to all of these problems,” he said.
When asked about the Republican party’s association with former President Donald Trump, Maddox downplayed it, saying ““Look we have a moment right now to move forward. We have a moment to redefine how we are approaching the issues that we’ve been facing for a while and let’s seize the moment... It’s time to move on.”
Maddox was born on nearby Fort Belvoir and has lived in the 45th District for 20 years. He currently runs his business, Inventive Insights LLC, which uses “emerging technologies and broad data capabilities” to solve clients’ problems according to his LinkedIn profile. He also serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University where he teaches a course on national security challenges.
Image courtesy of Maddox for Virginia
His favorite spot in the 45th District is Jones Point Park where he spends weekends helping his daughters pick up trash while enjoying views of the Potomac. “I actually love this district. I think it has so much diversity of people and opportunities. I want to keep those going. I don’t want to lose that diversity of people and opportunities through some of the inaction of my predecessors.”
Maddox will run in the general election against either Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker or incumbent Del. Mark Levine depending on which one wins the Democratic primary on June 8. The general election is set for Nov. 2. Levine is also campaigning for the Virginia lieutenant governor position and will give up his bid for the delegate seat if he wins that race.
Maddox says he is open and eager to debate the issues. His focus has been on getting the campaign kicked off and is excited to engage as many people as possible in dialogue on the issues.
Map courtesy of Ballotpedia
