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Tristan Shields
Tristan Shields (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 18. Shields lost in the Democratic primary on June 11, 2019.
Shields was previously a 2017 Democratic candidate for the same seat.
Biography
Shields' professional experience includes working as an actor and singer and owning a media business company. He was a contestant on NBC's "The Voice."[1]
Elections
2019
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 18
Incumbent Michael Webert defeated Laura Galante in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 18 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Webert (R) | 60.3 | 16,648 |
| Laura Galante (D) | 38.9 | 10,727 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 229 | ||
| Total votes: 27,604 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 18
Laura Galante defeated Tristan Shields in the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 18 on June 11, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Laura Galante | 70.1 | 1,708 | |
 | Tristan Shields | 29.9 | 729 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 2,438 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
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.[2] Incumbent Michael Webert (R) defeated Tristan Shields (D) and Wilton King (Green) in the Virginia House of Delegates District 18 general election.[3]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 18 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Michael Webert Incumbent |
60.45% | 16,686 | |
| Democratic | Tristan Shields | 34.36% | 9,486 | |
| Green | Wilton King | 5.19% | 1,433 | |
| Total Votes | 27,605 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
Democratic primary election
Tristan Shields ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 18 Democratic primary.[4]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 18 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Tristan Shields | ||
Republican primary election
Incumbent Michael Webert ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 18 Republican primary.[5]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 18 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Michael Webert Incumbent | ||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Tristan Shields did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Shield’s campaign website highlighted the following issues:[6]
| “ |
Business & Economy Next, let’s talk investment. Forbes recently reported that “Over 62% of millennials have considered starting their own business, with 72% feeling that startups and entrepreneurs are a necessary economic force for creating jobs and driving innovation.” On the flip side, the self-employment rate among workers 65+ is the highest of any age group in America (15.5%). To encourage our millennial talent to stay in District 18 and to help our baby boomers retire into entrepreneurship, I support Lt. Governor Northam’s plan to drive economic activity and startups in rural areas. Specifically, his idea for a 2-year zero Business, Professional, Occupational License (BPOL) and merchant capital tax for new businesses in rural areas. This initiative will result in no loss in existing revenue to local governments. Sounds like a win-win. Third, we need to ensure that our people have the skill set that local businesses require and entrepreneurs can acquire. We need skills training for our veterans, our young people, and our transitioning adults. The community colleges which serve the 18th are Lord Fairfax and Germanna. My own brother, Rory, graduated from Lord Fairfax in Warrenton. Germanna and Lord Fairfax are rich resources for developing a skilled workforce to fill good-paying, high demand jobs like cybersecurity, computer programming, and those in healthcare. Improving and supporting career development opportunities through local community colleges will be another priority in my first term. Environment Conservation/Eminent Domain: District 18 is undeniably the most beautiful district in the Commonwealth. People who live here love rural living and deeply care about the land. A frequent environmental issue I am asked about is the proposed natural gas pipelines. My answer to whether I am pro- or anti-pipeline reads like this: What precedent do we want to set? Do we want to encourage land conservation, responsible environmental policy and agro-tourism? I see conflicting priorities that have landed on the pipeline battle. The pipeline may be needed and could possibly bring jobs to Virginia. However, allowing the principle of eminent domain (which the Virginia constitutional amendment in 2012 supposedly weakened but exceptions were made for utilities) to trump the 50-year history of Virginia’s conservation easement program seems misguided. So to be clear, as it stands now, I cannot support the pipelines. This must be a tough call for my Republican opponent, Michael Webert. It may be the reason you can’t find his position anywhere on the pipelines. One of his largest donors is Dominion Power yet his family has been very involved in Virginia’s conservation efforts. His great-uncle, George L. Ohrstrom, was a founder of the Piedmont Environmental Council and early supporter of the use of conservation easements to preserve open space. Transparency is called for here and just because the pipelines don’t go through District 18 doesn’t mean we should set a precedent that conservation can be tossed aside. Climate change: Virginia needs to do its’ part to meet the Clean Power Plan standards. We need Democrats in the Statehouse to be leaders on climate change and protecting our environment. If we want to keep the Piedmont healthy, we can’t rely only on executive action, like Terry McAuliffe’s Cap and Trade program, to ensure Virginia is doing its part to protect the Earth. The environment should be a bi-partisan issue but Republicans have shown, time and again, that it’s not their priority. I promise to support and engage in state-driven conservation solutions. Energy: It’s clear to me the energy of the future is clean. This year, the 3-party partnership between Microsoft, the Commonwealth of Virginia and Dominion Power, brought a solar farm to Fauquier County. We need more constructive partnerships like this to solve our energy needs. We must be smart about investing in clean initiatives like solar power and off-shore wind energy to reduce the state’s carbon footprint. [7] |
” |
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ tristanshields.com, "About," accessed August 10, 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
- ↑ tristanshields.com, "Issues," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
