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Gerald Anderson (Virginia)
Gerald Anderson was a 2017 Green Party candidate for District 88 of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Biography
Anderson received an M.S. in chemistry. His professional experience includes serving as adjunct professor teaching chemistry at Germanna Community College. He has been a volunteer board member at the Fredericksburg Food Cooperative.[1]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia candidate survey
Anderson 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 Anderson's responses follow below.
| “ | District 88 which includes part of the City of Fredericksburg, part of Stafford County, part of Spotsylvania County, and part of Fauquier[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | To be a voice for my constituents in the house, voting on their behalf on proposed legislation, and sponsoring legislation that serves their needs.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | My door will always be open to my constituents and my community. For issues near and dear to me, I will be reaching our to all the groups, organizations and stakeholders for discussions on solutions. I have always been a problem solver and an innovator when it comes to problem solving.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | I am not a "free market advocate". The free market system has helped only about 10% of our population reach the land of plenty. They reached that land of plenty by exploiting the lower 90%. While their wages have risen 100% over the past 40-50 years, the lower 90% have seen no increase, all on an inflation adjusted basis. I believe that the workers should participate in the profits of a company. However, this has not happened. Therefore, I am in favor of raising the minimum wage in Virginia to a "livable wage". According to MIT, a livable wage in most of the 88th district is $15.60/hour. I will also push to increase the standard deduction for state income tax to $15,000 for a single adult ($30,000 for a joint return) and $8,000 for each dependent. I will also advocate for policies that will support unions against the "right to work" laws. And I will support cooperatives of all types to enable workers to reap more of the rewards. Finally, I will be working with both state and local economic development personnel to make the 88th district a new site for innovation and knowledge based enterprises. The 88th is an ideal location. It has land, it has the University of Mary Washington and Germanna Community College to help in this quest. It is only 50 miles from our federal government with all of its resources and this will enable thousands of our skilled labor force in the area avoid the commute to DC and back each day, alleviating some of the traffic congestion on I-95. Potentially successful enterprises include solar panel installation, drone manufacturing, wind turbine installation, cybersecurity, applied artificial intelligence, environmental restoration, and all types of research & development.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | I would like to know that I have done everything in my power to restore our democracy to the people and began to reverse the trends established over the past fifty years in terms of income equity, educational equity, social equity, and justice equity.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | The state should have the maximum role possible with regard to our healthcare AND health. Unfortunately the federal government is playing a lead role on funds allocation. I am an advocate of a "Medicare for All" system which would eliminate the medical insurers and save us roughly 25% of the cost. This is one system that private sector competition does not work and a publicly run system is best. Then it can also begin to provide preventative health care as well. Something the private medical insurers will not do because of their fiduciary responsibility...maximize profit for their shareholders. The public system should also be able to negotiate the best drug prices and medical procedure prices because they will have the largest pool.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | The state should set its own minimum wage and establish professional credentials required for specialized occupations. My own personal opinion is that the minimum wage can be locality dependent, (e.g., using the MIT "livable wage" determinations). Professional licensing is important for not only protecting the consumer from fraud but also protect workers who have invested much time and money into getting their certification from losing jobs to unlicensed individuals and companies.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | I support strong campaign finance reform at the state level. I wish to see all contributions limited to one set amount for individuals, businesses, PACs, and unions. No group should have any more financial influence over a politician than another.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | My highest priority for spending is education. I believe that every child should be afforded the opportunity to become the best that they can be without incurring any debt. Today, our public education is highly underfunded. The public schools in the United States have gone from being first in the world to almost 30th. Our teacher pay in Virginia is ranked 30th in the United States while our state is ranked 6th in terms of affluence. The divide in educational outcomes for low income and disadvantaged children relative to middle and upper income children continues to grow. We need to return our schools to world class quality and we need to better help our low income and disadvantaged students. I will be working on many fronts about education. First. I will be working hard to increase pre-K spending and getting disadvantaged and low-income children in these programs. Second, I will be working to increase financial assistance to the localities to greatly increase teacher pay. I will also be looking to add funds so that all schools can have child psychologists at each school to help troubled children adapt to school and not become later dropouts. I will also support efforts to increase funding for more STEM programs in the public schools which are critical to good paying jobs for the students. Finally, I will be working to make vocational and college accessible to all without going into financial debt. I will work to provide tuition credits to students and adults alike based on need to attend either vocational classes at local community colleges or college classes at public universities.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | I am opposed to pipelines containing either oil or natural gas coming through our state. It is time to phase out fossil fuel use in favor of renewables such as solar and wind. Climate warming is a problem and we must do our part to not enhance the warming. Fossil fuel use also impacts are health. For example, experts estimate that our coal use actually adds more costs to our health care than the cost of electricity we purchase. Our state can do whatever it wants with regard to environmental regulations. They just cannot be less strict than what the EPA[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | If Virginians make the right choices at election time, the future will be more prosperous 10 years from now and even more prosperous 20 years from now for the bottom 90% of wage earners. Health concerns will be diminished as a result of more concern about ones diet. Worker cooperatives will be a common company model. The environment will be much cleaner which will also reduce health care costs. We will be doing our part to correct climate change. We will have phased out coal-fired power plants and will have installed solar and wind systems in their place. Hig[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | I believe congressional and state legislative lines should be drawn such that we do not separate people with common concerns and issues into separate districts. For example, I live in the City of Fredericksburg and our city has been divided down the middle into two separate delegate districts even though it has less than than 29,000 people, definitely small enough to be put into one district. To avoid this in the future, we need to modify our laws to reflect this need to keep common interests together and we also to change the law such that a non-partisan commission (e.g., composed of judges) oversees construction of the districts.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | I will propose a change to the individual state income tax code. I will propose that the standard deduction be increased to $15,000 for a single filer ($30,000 for joint filer) and the dependent deduction increased to $8000. To pay for this I will propose to add an additional income tax bracket for incomes in excess of $250,000.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | The free market system has worked only for the top 10%. Their income has doubled over the past 40+ years, adjusted for inflation. The other 90% have had no increases in wages, adjusted for inflation for more than 40 years.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
| “ | A cooperative relationship is badly needed. So often, the local governments create headaches for the state government and vice versa. For example, cities and counties suddenly decide to develop vast lands to create more tax dollars for the local government. However, they did not consider to any significant degree the impact on infrastructure that the state may have responsibility for (e.g., state highways). Congestion develops and citizens are not happy. The state can attempt to accomodate, but this takes much time and effort. Typical lead times for highway construction is on the order of 5 to 7 years to pass all reviews including environmental. The state delegates should have periodic meetings with the local governments so that all of the road blocks to progress are know before local governments act.[2] | ” |
| —Gerald L Anderson | ||
Candidate website
Anderson’s campaign website highlighted the following issues:[3]
| “ |
Environmental Protection Based on his background in chemistry, Mr. Anderson is convinced that chemicals in our environment from industrial, agricultural and even pharmaceutical practices is responsible for many of the health issues we are facing today. Our DNA is being impacted by these chemicals and other factors leading to birth defects, autism, etc. As a result, Mr. Anderson is opposed to the expansion of many industrial and agricultural practices and better protections for those that are on-going.
One area of concern is the possibility of fracking in eastern Virginia. If it cannot be banned outright then Mr. Anderson would push for greater safeguards and contingency plans. He favors full disclosure of any hazardous characteristics of fracking fluids, additional baseline assessments, continuous monitoring of both air and water quality, more secure end environmental acceptable storage and treatment of waste fracking fluids, and the setup of a contingency fund paid for by the industry to pay for any problems that develop from the operations. Other areas of concern include handling of existing coal ash ponds, power plant pollution control, and agricultural and lawn runoff impacting streams and rivers. Renewables Although there are always ”natural” fluctuations in global temperatures over time, Mr. Anderson is convinced that the “global warming” we are seeing is “unnatural” and that humans have made a significant contribution to the rise in global temperatures. Although fossil fuel consumption is only one contributor, deforestation being another, population growth and livestock production expansion being a third, Mr. Anderson is opposed to continued use of fossil fuels beyond the time it takes to replace their use with renewable forms of energy such as solar, wind, geothermal, and other yet to be developed alternatives (e.g. wave power). Mr Anderson will support all legislation that will curtail Virginia’s contribution to “global warming” such as clean energy plans. He will also support all legislation that will expand the use of renewables and will seek to introduce legislation that will expand the renewable’s industry in Virginia. Livable Wages Every day, we hear from company executives that a higher minimum wage will make them go out of business. Yet there are many examples of companies who pay their employees more and are even more successful then these minimum wage companies. For example, consider Costco and Walmart. Costco has a starting wage of $11.50 per hour and their average wage is $21.00 per hour. Walmart has a starting salary of $9 per hour and an average wage of $13.00 per hour for non-supervisory personnel. Yet investor returns from 2005 to the present for Costco has been almost five times those for Walmart. Many other examples also exist in the fast food industry and the convenience store/service station industry. What makes the difference? Higher wages lead to much lower turnover which leads to greater productivity, loyalty and commitment. Mr. Anderson’s position is that if corporations are not going to treat their employees fairly with a livable wage than it is up to the state to force them. Educational Reforms As a college educator, Mr. Anderson witnesses first-hand the deficiencies in our K12 educational system. Students often lack communications skills to take advantage of the education that they are being offered. They do not ask questions when they are having problems understanding material and they do not readily participate in the classes. Students also lack critical thinking and problems solving skills. If a problem requires use of many concepts to solve, it baffles them. Finally, many students have a great deal of trouble even using algebra to solve problems. Currently, Mr. Anderson does not have a solution for the above, but will be devoting much of his time during this campaign discussing this state of education with educational professionals. Mr. Anderson is aware of the complex situation with public schools receiving local, state and federal funding with many strings attached. Another desire on Mr. Anderson’s part is to expand funded pre-K programs, especially for the children of poverty. These children do not have a choice on the family situation they are born into yet this outcome has been shown to greatly impact their ability to get themselves out of poverty. Often these children also end up incarcerated. We pay one way or the other. Giving them a chance through better preparation for public school and higher education should be preferred by all humans.
Finally, Mr. Anderson is opposed to school voucher programs, not because he thinks that public schools are doing a terrific job. The problem is that providing vouchers will ultimately take away funds for education for the underprivileged. Vouchers will enable those sending their children to private schools a refund on some of their costs but take away none of the costs of public schools. Therefore, public schools will end up teaching nearly the same amount of students with less money than they have now. Higher Education Mr. Anderson believes a highly educated society leads to a more informed and democratic society, a more prosperous society, and a more peaceful society. With higher education comes greater innovation and greater productivity improvements, greater participation in government affairs and community development, and as a result a more satisfied and happy society. Consequently, Mr. Anderson believes that we need to do whatever possible to make higher education more affordable so that a greater percentage of our citizens can complete a college education. Affordability can come from more on-demand and on-line courses and/or tax credits based on need. Economic Development Everyone is for economic development. It helps people get out of poverty and feel good about themselves. However, we cannot simply seek economic development for economic development’s sake. We must consider all of the “externalities” such as environmental impacts. As a result, Mr. Anderson is not for fossil fuel related industries or many chemical-related industries. Mr. Anderson’s long-term vision for economic development in Virginia is to make Virginia a world “innovation center”, add “green” industries, and add “green” agriculture. Mr. Anderson is opposed to continued expansion of military and intelligence spending. While these activities provide jobs, there are many more productive uses for our taxes. Mr. Anderson sees greater benefit in putting that military and intelligence spending into “green” research and development. “Green” research and development that could eliminate poverty throughout the world and provide meaningful lives for all without the need for warfare and terrorism. [2] |
” |
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.[4] Incumbent Mark Cole (R) defeated Steve Aycock (D), Amanda Blalock (Independent), and Gerald Anderson (Green) in the Virginia House of Delegates District 88 general election.[5]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 88 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Mark Cole Incumbent |
52.78% | 14,022 | |
| Democratic | Steve Aycock | 37.33% | 9,918 | |
| Independent | Amanda Blalock | 8.93% | 2,373 | |
| Green | Gerald Anderson | 0.96% | 255 | |
| Total Votes | 26,568 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
Democratic primary election
Steve Aycock ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 88 Democratic primary.[6]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 88 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Steve Aycock | ||
Republican primary election
Incumbent Mark Cole ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 88 Republican primary.[7]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 88 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Mark Cole Incumbent | ||
See also
- State legislative elections, 2017
- Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017
- State legislative special elections, 2017
- Virginia House of Delegates
- Virginia State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ geraldlanderson.org, "About," accessed August 30, 2017
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ geraldlanderson.org, "Platform," accessed August 30, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Candidacy Requirements for the November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General Unofficial Results," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Democratic Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Republican Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
