There wasn’t much that the six Republican candidates for Senate District 10 disagreed on during the first forum of the special election, held Friday.
How to handle a potential state budget deficit in 2026? Reign in government spending. Do they support right to work? All said yes. Would they vote for the proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in Virginia’s constitution? A resounding no from all. School choice? All for it.
Maybe it was the spirit of the season, maybe it was the ambiance of the venue — a Christmas tree farm in Cumberland County.
Six of the seven Republican candidates seemed largely good-natured and at times even jovial as they shared their ideas and campaign platforms with the audience in the pine-scented event space that was lined with twinkling Christmas trees at Spruceberry Farms.
The candidates in attendance were, in alphabetical order, Duane Adams, Alex Cheatham, Luther Cifers, Jean Gannon, Bryan Hamlet and Shane Snavely.
Amanda Chase did not confirm that she would attend the event, according to organizers. She wrote to Cardinal News on Saturday that she had another campaign event on the same night.
The Democrat, Jack Trammell, was not invited.
Adams took a swipe at the absent Republican early on.
“I wish that everyone who is running for this seat had decided to attend because I believe we owe you that, we want to represent you and we should be here,” he told the audience of roughly 100 people.
A little bit of daylight between the candidates
The next set of questions allowed the candidates, who otherwise appeared to have the same values and legislative priorities, to put some distance between themselves and the competition. They were asked to share their own policy ideas on a range of topics.
When asked about state-level immigration policy, Cheatham suggested reforms to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving benefits; Hamlet agreed and suggested revoking driver privilege cards from undocumented immigrants as well; Snavely concurred with both; Gannon suggested legislation that would compel local law enforcement to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Cifers agreed with those before him; Adams suggested cutting off state funding for sanctuary cities. Virginia cannot have sanctuary cities because the commonwealth is bound by the Dillon Rule, which means that no locality can have a law that violates state law, according to the Virginia Interfaith Center.
The candidates were then asked what one piece of legislation they would put forward first, if elected to office. Hamlet said a bill regarding election integrity was at the top of his list, but he didn’t provide specifics on what he planned to put forth.
Snavely pushed back. He noted that Virginia’s elections are secure and Gov. Glenn Youngkin has “cleaned up the voter rolls.”
Snavely’s first bill would be focused on parental rights in education. Gannon said she did not have a specific piece of legislation in mind but was open to hearing from constituents on what they would like to see. Cifers said his first bill would be focused on affordable homes for first-time buyers. Adams said his first piece of legislation would be to require photo IDs for voters to cast their ballots. Cheatham said he would put forth a bill to decrease the automobile property tax for individuals.
Candidates missed the mark on education, attendees say
Samantha Womack, a 33-year-old resident of Amelia County who works as an educator in a private school, said she was interested in what the candidates had to say about school choice.
“I’m torn between wanting to see support and repair for our public schools but also seeing how difficult it is to have a kid trapped in a school system that’s not serving them,” she said.
She noted that access to affordable homes for first-time home buyers was also a top issue for her.
“I wish that they would have talked about student debt and healthcare,” she said, of all the candidates. “They make the border sound like a bigger deal than it is. I don’t see that as affecting me personally.”
Cathy Hanchey, a 57-year-old resident of Cumberland, said she was able to narrow her candidate choice down to three after the forum.
“I’m looking for someone who understands the needs of rural Virginia. I want someone who is going to be prepared to fight against Northern Virginia and Tidewater,” she said.
Ike Eisenhart, a 53-year-old resident of Cumberland, said he had hoped to hear more from the candidates on what they would do to support public education in the district.
“They talked about the dollars following students, helping private schoolers, helping homeschoolers but what are we doing to actually make public schools back to being number one?” he said.
Priscilla Martin, a 61-year-old resident of Cartersville, said education was also a top issue for her and that she wanted to hear the candidate’s “hows” regarding fixes for public education.
“They’re not teaching the kids the skills that they need,” she said, of the public school system. “They’re teaching the [standards of learning tests] and SOLs don’t prepare them for life.”
