Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
Lolita Mancheno-Smoak was a 2017 Republican candidate for District 42 of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Biography
Mancheno was born in Ecuador and emigrated to the United States. She received a B.S. in engineering from Columbia University and an M.S. in engineering from the University of Miami. She received a Ph.D. in business administration from Nova Southeastern University. Her professional experience includes working as an associate professor at the University of Phoenix, working for the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, and working in business.[1]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia candidate survey
Mancheno-Smoak 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 Mancheno-Smoak's responses follow below.
| “ | All the residents living in Virginia House of Delegates District 42 which covers West Springfield, Fairfax Station, South County, Mason Neck, and Mount Vernon.[2] | ” |
| —Lolita Mancheno-Smoak | ||
| “ | I subscribe to the Jeffersonian model of the citizen legislator: the private citizen who represents the people's will through election is a public servant for a designated period and then returns to private life. The state legislator's job is to be responsive to and representative of the voice and will of the people. Though each individual brings to their position personal knowledge, skills and talents, it is not the right of the legislator to impose their ideology on the people. Rather it is their responsibility to leverage their expertise in crafting legislation that will best serve the will of the people. Finally, a legislator is not to personally enrich themselves at the expense of public service.[2] | ” |
| —Lolita Mancheno-Smoak | ||
| “ | The vectors of economics, business growth and jobs all intersect within the same space and therefore influence each other. To have a vibrant or dynamic economy there is a need to promote a business friendly environment that enables entrepreneurship with minimum barriers to conducting commerce. A business friendly environment both promotes new startups and growth of established enterprises. There is also a need for ease of access to capital, as well as limited regulatory constraints and low tax burden. Providing a pro-business environment creates job growth and generates a cycle of overall economic growth. In Virginia we currently have BPOL taxes based on gross receipts without considering net profits. Changing BPOL to being applied on net profits would stimulate a positive shift for Virginia becoming a more business friendly environment for startups.[2] | ” |
| —Lolita Mancheno-Smoak | ||
| “ | In national rankings Virginia's K-12 education system gets top ratings. When reported in the aggregate Fairfax County's graduation rate of 92.3 percent is outstanding and surpasses the state average of 91.3 percent. High school dropout rates are indicators of a school system's performance. But it is important to note that problems get masked when data is just examined in the aggregate. When drilling down into the disaggregated data of the VDOE state-level cohort report for class of 2017, we see that the subgroup of Hispanic comprises 77% of the total number of high school dropouts. This statistic has, in fact, trended worse each year since 2008. High school dropout rates project the viability of the future workforce. Experiencing a particular subgroup with such a significant dropout rate in the public school system signals the need for a new approach to tackling the problem demonstrated by the Hispanic dropout trend. The current programs are just not working. They are not aligned to the cultural and socio-economic factors surrounding these students. The state legislature must ensure that the Virginia Department of Education addresses these challenges effectively - and immediately.[2] | ” |
| —Lolita Mancheno-Smoak | ||
Candidate website
Mancheno-Smoak’s campaign website highlighted the following issues:[3]
| “ |
Let's stop being Virginia's ATM
Let's make our schools better
Let's prepare for jobs of the future
Let's stop child abuse and neglect
Let's help senior citizens
|
” |
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] Kathy Tran (D) defeated Lolita Mancheno-Smoak (R) in the Virginia House of Delegates District 42 general election.[5]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 42 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Kathy Tran |
61.06% | 18,761 | |
| Republican | Lolita Mancheno-Smoak | 38.94% | 11,967 | |
| Total Votes (18 of 19 precincts reporting.) | 30,728 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
Races we watched
Ballotpedia identified 13 races to watch in the Virginia House of Delegates 2017 elections: four Democratic seats and nine Republican seats. Based on analysis of these districts' electoral histories, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly have led to shifts in a chamber's partisan balance.
This district was a Race to Watch because the incumbent did not file to run for re-election and the presidential candidate of the opposite party won by more than 20 points in 2016. In 2015, incumbent Dave Albo (R), who was first elected in 1993, won re-election by 26.9 points. He declined to run in 2017. District 42 was one of 51 Virginia House districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 42 by 23.1 points. Democrat Barack Obama won the seat in the 2012 presidential election by 6.5 points. As of 2017, District 42 covered parts of Fairfax County.
Democratic primary election
Kathy Tran defeated Tilly Blanding in the Virginia House of Delegates District 42 Democratic primary.[6]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 42 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Kathy Tran |
53.64% | 3,977 |
| Tilly Blanding | 46.36% | 3,437 |
| Total Votes | 7,414 | |
Republican primary election
Lolita Mancheno-Smoak ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 42 Republican primary.[7]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 42 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Lolita Mancheno-Smoak | ||
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
- ↑ lolita4delegate.com, "Meet Lolita," accessed August 18, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ lolita4delegate.com, "Issues & Solutions," accessed August 18, 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
