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Al Durante

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Al Durante
Image of Al Durante

Democratic Party

Personal
Profession
Teacher
Contact

Personal website

Al Durante was a 2017 Democratic candidate for District 54 of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Biography

Durante's professional experience includes working as a high school teacher and as a college professor. He has served as chairman of the Spotsylvania County Democratic Committee.[1]

Campaign themes

2017

Ballotpedia candidate survey

Durante participated in a survey created by Ballotpedia. The survey was designed to let our readers know more about the candidates and feel confident that they are voting for the best person to represent them. The survey questions appear bolded, and Durante's responses follow below.

Who are your constituents?
“ First and foremost the residents of Virginia's 54th House District, but on a larger level everyone who lives in or visits the Commonwealth, because everyone of those individuals will be affected by the laws that are passed in the General Assembly.[2] ”
—Al Durante
Ideally, what should the government’s role in a state’s healthcare system be? Are there any healthcare policies, actual or hypothetical, that you have an opinion on?
“ Affordable quality healthcare should be available to all Virginians, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the economically prudent thing to do. Since it appears the Affordable Care Act will be with us for the foreseeable future the General Assembly should approve Medicaid expansion which would increase the program's benefit to the greatest number of Virginians. According to the Commonwealth Institute, Medicaid expansion would provide affordable care to 400,000 Virginians who are currently without medical insurance, providing insurance to 4,500 residents of Spotsylvania County, and 2,800 residents of the 54th district. By refusing to expand Medicaid the majority in the House of Delegates will have given 7 billion of Virginian's Federal Tax dollars to states who did choose to expand Medicaid.[2] ”
—Al Durante
How do you view the current state of transportation and infrastructure in Virginia? What role, if any, should the state have in those two areas?
“ Transportation and infrastructure are pressing problems in Virginia. The average life expectancy of a well-constructed road is twenty to twenty-five years. Most major highways in Virginia are now at forty years without any major reconstruction. Our roads are over-crowded with no seeming relief in sight as the Economic Development plan of many municipalities is to “build more rooftops” without any plan to accommodate the additional services these new residents will require. To compound this problem, currently 40% of our secondary roads are currently rated insufficient. We need to concentrate on developing our mass transit systems, but the state's mass transit funding is at a $130 million shortfall, resulting from changes in the way we fund transportation made in the Appropriations Bill passed by the House majority in 2013. We need to fund our transportation system in a way that is fair to Virginians, and requires those who are visiting the Commonwealth to pay their fair share. Along with that we also need to improve our high-tech infrastructure. We need to expand reliable broadband service to all parts of the Commonwealth. Doing so will help us attract new businesses that best match our communities, as well as provide alternative work environments such as tele-commuting and video conferencing from home. Expanding telecommunication will also expand the resources available to our rural schools and students, preparing the qualified workforce of tomorrow. I've heard a number of proposals for expanding internet access to our rural communities from tying it in to road improvement by running fiber cable while we are building new roads and bridges to cut down on the time and cost of expanding broadband, another is to do something akin to the Rural Electrification project of the 1930's, effectively turning internet access into a utility. I am personally in favor of some sort public/private partnership to provide an inexpensive, yet innovative approach to providing quality internet services to rural areas. Perhaps something along the lines of Microsoft's recently rolled out Airband technology.[2] ”
—Al Durante
What are your thoughts on higher education? What should the state do, if anything, to increase accessibility?
“ We need to make higher education more accessible for those who want to attend college. We should expand opportunities for financial aid, through grants and scholarships, and by implementing school for service programs for those who agree to use their degrees to serve their communities for a given period of time. Whatever approaches we take we need to provide this funding in a way that does not place a financial burden on the institutions of higher education. We need to promote our Community College system as a less expensive way to complete a student's first two years of higher education by assuring that courses are fully transferable to four year colleges, a program that is largely already in place among Virginia colleges, but can be improved in cases where courses are applied as elective credit instead of meeting subject area requirements. We also need to promote and expand the professional certification programs available through community college workforce programs that can qualify students for good paying jobs in a shorter period of time, for those who do not desire to obtain a college degree.[2] ”
—Al Durante
What is your opinion on Virginia’s K-12 education system? What issues are important and how can the state legislature address them?
“ Public school students across the Commonwealth need to be guaranteed an equitable learning experience, regardless of where they attend school. The General Assembly must be obligated to ensure the state's portion of our public education budget is fully funded, in a consistent and transparent manner. As it stands now, money earmarked for our public school system is often diverted to fill gaps that arise in other parts of the budget. Unlike other entities funded by the government, school finances are developed using a zero-sum budget, there are no “rainy day” funds in school financing. If our public school superintendents to are expected to develop accurate school budgets, and make the best use of available funding, to provide every student with the most appropriate educational opportunities available, they must have a knowledge of the financial resources available to them. The General Assembly needs to raise the required Standards of Quality expected from our public schools. If schools are only required to meet the bare minimum to be “successful” we are creating a system of inequality dependent on where a student happens to reside. A student in the poorest school in the Southwest should have an educational experience that is comparable to one available in the newest school in Northern Virginia. Of course, the General Assembly would need to fully fund this, and any other state-required mandate moving forward. We should also expect the best and most appropriate use of teacher/student contact time. While evaluation of student learning is essential to student, and school success, we should be evaluating authentic learning. The current SOL system most accurately measures a student's ability to successfully take a standardized test. The average student in a classroom today will change careers more than 3 times in their lifetime. With the current pace of changing technology, and the constantly evolving demands of the job market, rote memorization is not a sufficient teaching tool for the 21st century. We can no longer teach students the basic skills that will carry them throughout life. We need to be teaching students the critical thinking skills that will make them life-long learners. We need to meet the educational challenges of the future, not just for the opportunity it will provide for the individual, but for the economic success of the Commonwealth.[2] ”
—Al Durante
What are your views on how Virginia draws lines for congressional and state legislative districts? If you could make changes to the system, what would they be?
“ Allowing members of the General Assembly to draw their own districts essentially allows incumbent politicians to change the rules as they go along. Every decade members of the general assembly redraw congressional and state legislative district lines to adjustment for changes in population reported in the previous year's census. By allowing legislators to draw their own districts we are essentially allowing them to draw their districts to accommodate voters who will assure their staying in office. The resulting gerrymandered districts are perhaps the greatest challenge to our representative form of democracy. While incumbents from both parties participate in the process of gerrymandering, it is usually the majority party who benefits most. Gerrymandering not only stacks the deck by allowing incumbents to choose their voters, instead of allowing voters to choose their representatives, but it also represses representative government by discouraging challengers to elected officials, but also suppresses voter participation through lack of choice at the polls, and by devaluing the process of casting a ballot in the voter's mind. I favor the drawing of legislative districts by an independent commission, which would require amending the Constitution of Virginia, a multi-year process in the Commonwealth, meaning time is running out before the next census. If we cannot achieve appointing an independent commission to draw legislative districts before the next redistricting session in 2021, perhaps we can pass legislation requiring legislators follow a given set of criteria in an attempt to assure districts are drawn in a fair manner. Unfortunately, any redistricting reform legislation will need to pass through the House Privileges and Elections Committee before it can get a fair full floor vote. Because the P & E Committee is controlled by the majority party, and all members regardless of party are approved by the Speaker of the House, it is virtually impossible for redistricting reform legislation to pass out of committee for consideration by both houses of the General Assembly.[2] ”
—Al Durante

Elections

2017

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017

General election

Elections for the Virginia House of Delegates took place in 2017. All 100 house seats were up for election. The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on June 13, 2017. The filing deadline for primary election candidates was March 30, 2017. The filing deadline for non-party candidates and candidates nominated by methods other than a primary was June 13, 2017.[3] Incumbent Bobby Orrock (R) defeated Al Durante (D) in the Virginia House of Delegates District 54 general election.[4]

Virginia House of Delegates, District 54 General Election, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Bobby Orrock Incumbent 58.00% 13,782
     Democratic Al Durante 42.00% 9,982
Total Votes 23,764
Source: Virginia Department of Elections

Democratic primary election

Al Durante ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 54 Democratic primary.[5]

Ballotpedia will publish vote totals here after they become available.
Virginia House of Delegates, District 54 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate
Green check mark transparent.png Al Durante

Republican primary election

Incumbent Bobby Orrock defeated Nick Ignacio in the Virginia House of Delegates District 54 Republican primary.[6]

Virginia House of Delegates, District 54 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Bobby Orrock Incumbent 81.17% 4,254
Nick Ignacio 18.83% 987
Total Votes 5,241

Endorsements

2017

In 2017, Durante’s endorsements included the following:

  • NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia[7]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ duranteforva.com, "About me," accessed August 21, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Candidacy Requirements for the November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed March 21, 2017
  4. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General Unofficial Results," accessed November 7, 2017
  5. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Democratic Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
  6. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Republican Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
  7. ↑ NARAL, "2017 Endorsed House Candidates," accessed August 31, 2017


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