Virginia Beach, District 9

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Kelly Fowler is of Filipino-Mexican heritage and moved to Virginia Beach when her father, who was in the Navy, was stationed there. An engaged member of the community, she used to be an elementary school teacher and now owns a small local real estate company that specializes in military family relocation and advocacy. She and her husband reside in Virginia Beach with their three daughters. Fowler was first elected to represent the 21st District in 2017 and will now run for HD 96 with the redrawn district lines.

Delegate Fowler was motivated to run for office after attending the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. in January 2017.. In 2020, she voted to repeal medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers by supporting the Reproductive Health Protection Act. She supports abortion access and voted to make abortion coverage available on the health insurance exchange.

During her time in office, Delegate Fowler voted to give teachers a 5% raise, believing higher teacher pay will reduce high turnover and make it easier for schools to recruit and retain the best teachers. She also voted to increase school funding in the Commonwealth, including money to help schools reopen safely during the pandemic. She also voted to grant in-state tuition to undocumented students in 2020 and make them eligible for financial aid the following year.

Delegate Fowler recognizes the real threat of climate change. She hopes to create long-term solutions to preserving the green spaces in the Virginia Beach and Chesapeake areas. Del. Fowler has patroned legislation aimed at tackling the flooding issues of the 21st District. Additionally, Del. Fowler is in support of clean energy and green jobs and voted for the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which aims to make Virginia 100% clean energy by 2050.

Delegate Fowler believes in making the promise of democracy real for us all by supporting our fair and free elections. In 2021, she voted for the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. She also voted to keep voters safe during the pandemic by removing the signature requirement on absentee ballots during an emergency and establishing drop boxes for voters to leave their ballots. In 2020, she voted to extend the early voting period and to make it easier to vote absentee in Virginia.

Delegate Fowler’s main opponent is Republican Mike Karslake, a business owner affiliated with Business Networks International. He describes himself as politically conservative and has spent 20 years working within the Republican political network. He wants to give police additional funding with no accountability. He will allow gun violence to go unchecked in our communities, and his top priority is to “preserve our religious freedoms”--so long as they support “Judeo-Christian values”.

Independent candidate Nicholas Olenik is also in the running for the race, but we could not find a website or any listed positions at the time of research.

Due to her support of abortion access, public education, voting rights, and the environment, Delegate Fowler is the most progressive choice in this election. Close Window

Michael Feggans is a Virginia Beach native who graduated from Tallwood High School and enlisted in the U.S Air Force after graduation. He values education and has degrees from Virginia Tech, Norfolk State, and the University of Virginia. After 20 years of service in the Air Force, he decided to retire and become a tech entrepreneur in Virginia Beach. With the creation of the new 97th House District, Feggans is running for the House of Delegates to continue serving his community.

Feggans lists “protecting reproductive freedom and women’s rights” as the first priority on his website. He pledges to fight to safeguard and expand abortion access.He has been endorsed by Roe Your Vote Virginia.

He also lists “fighting for common sense gun safety measures to keep our communities safe” as a top priority. As a military veteran and responsible gun owner, he knows how dangerous guns can be in the wrong hands. That’s why he supports common sense solutions to curb gun violence, including expanding background checks, strengthening Virginia’s extreme risk protection order law, and bolstering safe storage requirements to keep guns out of schools and keep our communities safe. Because of these stances, he was endorsed by Giffords PAC.

Feggans pledges himself to protecting our environment and supporting renewable energy jobs to support and combat recurring flooding, sea level rise, and promote resilience in coastal Virginia. He knows that clean energy is crucially important in Virginia Beach as we face the impacts of climate change in our coastal region every day. He believes that offshore wind would bring economic and environmental benefits to this region. His positions earned him an endorsement from Sierra Club and from NRDC Action Fund.

Feggans also promises to support small businesses and entrepreneurs to create an economy that helps families and our community thrive. He says he’ll fight in Richmond to lower the costs of prescription drugs and healthcare and make housing more affordable. As a small business owner, he has personally felt the sting of rising costs and knows that a strong economy starts on Main Street. He will work to modernize processes and help to combat the issues that hold small businesses back. His language focuses on business, but he has earned an endorsement from AFL-CIO and professes support for unions.

Feggans’ opponent is incumbent Republican Delegate Karen Greenhalgh, a Virginia Beach business owner. Del. Greenhalgh became infamous in her 2021 race against Fmr. Del. Alex Askew for sending out an “overtly racist” mailer targeting her opponent. She supports restricting access to abortion by passing medically unnecessary regulations on abortion providers. She opposes the right of workers to form unions and will work to keep the state’s right-to-work law in place. She targets LGBTQ+ youth, having Sponsored HB 1387 to limit participation in women’s sports on the basis of sex assigned at birth and voted for HB 2432, which requires schools to inform parents of students experiencing "gender incongruence".

Because of his stances on healthcare and abortion, environmental protection, and gun safety, Feggans is the clear progressive choice in this race. Close Window