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The Norfolk City School Board Ward 2 election takes place on November 8, 2022. Tanya Karapurkar Bhasin (D) is the only candidate and is running for office for the first time.
Tanya Bhasin was born to parents who immigrated to the US from India and was raised in Delaware. Bhasin received her BA in Anthropology from the George Washington University in 1996 and her Master's in Public Health from Emory University in 1999. She is a Research Scientist and started her career working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Birth Defects and Disabilities. While at the CDC, Bhasin supported studies in epidemiology that led to breakthrough findings for five developmental disabilities. These include autism, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and vision impairment. Bhasin also has many other accomplishments from her time at the CDC.
Ms. Bhasin participated in several committees for Norfolk City Schools, where she collaborated to create solutions and improve conditions for students. She has volunteered for Norfolk GAINS (Growing and Investing in Norfolk Schools), a group that advocates for public education, to uplift the necessities of public school students and staff. She created dialogue with officeholders in Virginia to lobby for improvements such as longer board member terms, full funding for schools, and a taxes increase to fund operations and infrastructure in the school system.
Recommendation: Bhasin is running unopposed, and she is a progressive choice because of her support of students with different abilities, as well as her effective approach in her role as a Norfolk City School Board member.
City of Norfolk
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Virginia’s 3rd congressional district stretches across parts of Hampton Roads and encompasses all of the cities of Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton, and Portsmouth, as well as parts of Chesapeake. In 2012, the 3rd district was found to have been unconstitutionally gerrymandered based on race. It was redrawn for the 2016 elections to exclude parts of Richmond which had previously been included in the district. The district is reliably Democratic, even since redistricting. Bobby Scott won the 2020 election with 68.35% of the vote.
This election will be held on November 8, 2022. Longtime incumbent, Congressman Bobby Scott (D), who has served since 1993, is running for re-election against Terry Namkung (R), a retired senior non-commissioned officer of the Air Force and renewable energy researcher.
Democratic incumbent Congressman Bobby Scott has represented Virginia’s Third District since 1993. Before being elected to Congress, Scott served in the Virginia General Assembly for 15 years as a member of both the House of Delegates (1978-1983) and the State Senate (1983-1993). Having a maternal grandfather of Filipino ancestry, he is the first American of Filipino descent to serve as a voting member of Congress, in addition to being the first African American Representative from Virginia since Reconstruction.
As co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force, Scott advocates for protecting the environment and preserving the Chesapeake Bay. Together with Congresswoman Elaine Luria, he co-authored the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act. He also introduced the Chesapeake Bay Science, Education and Ecosystem Enhancement Act with Maryland Congressman John Sarbanes and Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman. He opposes the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, as well as offshore drilling. Alternatively, he cosponsored the Offshore Wind American Manufacturing Act and supports the Green New Deal.
Since his early days in Congress, Scott has been fighting for criminal justice reform and gun violence prevention. In 2017, he sponsored the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Act, which addressed the country’s prison population problem. He also cosponsored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants and address accountability for law enforcement misconduct. Scott serves as vice-chair of the House Democratic Caucus Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Recently, he voted in favor of the Protecting Our Kids Act.
Scott has been a cosponsor of Medicaid for All since his first congressional term. He has introduced legislation to improve the Affordable Care Act by putting limits on deductibles, expanding eligibility for subsides, and expanding on open enrollment outreach efforts. He coauthored the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, aiming to save Americans $500 billion on prescription drug costs over the next decade. Additionally, he introduced the Ban Surprise Billing Act to protect patients from unexpected medical bills.
Investments in education and training are the long-term solution to recovering economy for Scott. He views this as key to keeping the US competitive in the global marketplace.He introduced the Raise the Wage Act to ultimately increase minimum wage to $15. Scott also introduced the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize), which would strengthen workers’ right to unionize. To protect older workers, he introduced the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. Scott supported the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Scott is facing Terry Namkung (R), a retired senior non-commissioned officer of the Air Force and renewable energy researcher. Namkung is against children masking and future school shutdowns, as well as mandated vaccines. He has spoken out against teaching accurate history in public schools. Namkung received Governor Glenn Youngkin’s endorsement in the race.
Due to Namkung’s views on the COVID-19 pandemic and his spreading of disinformation, Bobby Scott is the most progressive candidate in this race.
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This election takes place on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Lauren Dee Campsen (I) was elected in 2018, and is the only candidate in the race for Norfolk City School Board Ward 5.
Lauren Campsen has had a very long career as an elementary school educator. In Her experience spanning almost 40 years, she has been a teacher, principal, instructional specialist, and an administrator for Norfolk City Schools. She was also Interim Chief Academic Officer of Norfolk Public Schools.
Under her leadership at Ocean View Elementary School, Campsen and her faculty won recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School. She was featured in Achiever, a newsletter from the U.S. Department of Education, for academic excellence. Ocean View also held Title I status for five years total.
Campsen was a part of the Golden Key National Honor Society as a graduate student at Old Dominion University. She won Teacher of the Year in 1988 at Meadowbrook Elementary School, and she was part of the All City Teaching Team. in 2009, she was recognized for her outstanding leadership, and in 2014 was named Virginia National Distinguished Principal.
Lauren Campsen is running unopposed, and she is the progressive fit for this position because of her long career as an educator and administrator, during which she won awards for improvement and outstanding performance.