Hayden: Time for a change in the 44th district

Hayden wearing red shirt advertising his campaign along with others, including GOP candidates for different offices.
Richard Hayden, fourth from right, is running for the Virginia House of Delegates. (Image courtesy of Richard Hayden)

This column was submitted by Richard Hayden, a Republican candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates 44th District seat.

Do you know what the primary concern for my opponent, Paul Krizek, was at a recent debate? Climate change. Talk about being out of touch with voter concerns!

Now, I’m not saying climate change isn’t important, but it’s not more important than making sure our schools are safe and fixing our crumbling roads. However, my opponent wouldn’t know that. He’s simply another out-of-touch politician.

He takes money from special interest groups to simply carry out their agenda. If we want to change Virginia for the better, it starts with changing Paul Krizek.

Profile image of Richard Hayden
Richard Hayden

After knocking on thousands of doors, actually speaking with our neighbors, I have heard the concerns about crumbling roads, keeping our children safe, lowering taxes, and the importance of promoting a culture of life.

Roads are crumbling. As I campaign across the 44th District, voters express their concern about traffic, but more so, about the physical deterioration of the road surface. They want them paved and repaired. VDOT funds were diverted to the mixing bowl project and Wilson Bridge and repaving roads went neglected due to poor management. I will make sure that our roads in Mount Vernon and Hayfield are given top priority by VDOT.

Schools are failing. In a desperate attempt to remedy the downward spiral of local schools, the current School Board wants to change school boundaries. Supervisor Dan Storck was the Mount Vernon School Board representative (and three-time chair) over 10 years and ran the schools into the ground. They are the lowest performing schools in the county. If not for our great teachers and dedicated administrators I cannot imagine how much worse off they would be. I oppose any changes in school boundaries which would dramatically affect property values. Change the Board and not the boundaries.

Krizek was a co-patron on HB 2491, which would have removed restrictions on late-term abortions. Perfectly healthy babies and babies with disabilities, nine-month old, full term babies, would have been left to die on the table. This is simply too extreme.

My opponent also took an extreme position that would prevent parents from reviewing graphic content in sex education curriculum. He also voted against HB 2570, which would have required parental permission to have their child enrolled state sex education/family life education courses. Krizek is just too extreme.

He even opposed the private school scholarship expansion for private pre-kindergarten for low income students, which ultimately became law. Think about that – he is so beholden to special interests, he voted against giving our most vulnerable children new opportunities.

Paul Krizek has neglected our interests for years. One just needs to take a drive on our local roads and highways to see a glaring example of his failure. We must stop this madness. This is not the Virginia I have come to know and love.

If you want reasonable, mainstream, common sense representation in Richmond, vote for me on November 5. My name is Richard Hayden and I will be honored to serve as your delegate for the 44th House District in the Virginia General Assembly!

6 Comments

  1. Wesley
  2. Jim poole
  3. Tom C.
  4. Chris Ambrose
  5. KB