Progressive Voters Guide

Democratic candidate Michele Joyce is a longtime resident of Smithfield where she and her husband have raised their two daughters. Joyce has a background in physics and has worked at Jefferson Lab in Newport News for 20 years. For the last decade, Michele has been a volunteer community leader and advocate, helping hundreds of residents in the rural areas of the district to find access to affordable health care. After witnessing a neighborhood family fall victim to a flawed health care system, she decided it was time to play an active role in helping folks in her community. She vows to improve lives in our rural communities by eliminating food and internet deserts and by protecting the family farm.

Her opponent is incumbent Republican Delegate Emily Brewer. Delegate Brewer was first elected in 2017. She is endorsed by the NRA and the Virginia Citizens Defense League, proving that she is against commonsense gun violence prevention measures. She is also against abortion access and doesn’t believe people should be able to make choices about their own bodies.

Michele Joyce is the more progressive choice in this race because of her strong commitment to affordable health care.

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Roslyn “Roz” Tyler was born in Greensville County, Virginia. She has a master’s degree in Education from Virginia State University. She works as the Clinical Coordinator of Physical Therapy at Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center.

Delegate Tyler serves on the Militia, Police and Public Safety, Education, and Appropriations Committees. She supported the Governor’s amendment that reinstated driving privileges for over 627,000 Virginians on July 1, 2019, who had their licenses suspended due to non-payment of court costs, fines, forfeitures, restitution, or penalties. She also supports ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment and voted for Medicaid expansion.

Her opponent is H. Otto Wachsmann Jr., a pharmacist from Stony Creek. Wachsmann has not put forth a concrete platform on any issues, but we do know that he is running as a Republican.

Delegate Tyler is the more progressive choice in this race.