Democrat Jade Harris ready for uphill battle in Third Senate District race

Democrats aren’t ceding the newly-created Third Senate District to Republicans. Jade Harris, the former vice mayor of Glasgow, is on the ballot as the Democratic nominee in the far-flung district, which stretches from Staunton and Waynesboro down I-81 to the Roanoke suburbs.

Harris will face Botetourt County Republican Del. Chris Head on the November ballot in the Third, which gave 68.1 percent of its votes to Glenn Youngkin in the 2021 gubernatorial election, according to analysis from the Virginia Public Access Project.

So, yeah, an uphill battle, but it’s one that Harris, who came up short in a special-election run for the 24th District seat in the House of Delegates in January, is ready to wage.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to potentially represent the people of the Third District, and as I endeavor to make that opportunity a reality, I will do so guided by the strong sense of honor and justice I developed during my adolescence and early adulthood here in the mountains,” said Harris, a 2020 Mary Baldwin University alum and Rockbridge County native.

Harris, who introduced herself in a campaign press release as a “working-class queer Black Gen-Z candidate,” is up front about how she doesn’t fit the “traditional profile” of a candidate in Western Virginia.

“But it is for that very reason that I think my perspective is desperately needed in Richmond,” said Harris, who is pledging to make sure the Third isn’t left behind.

Her campaign priorities include making Interstate 81 less deadly, addressing the addiction epidemic plaguing the I-81 corridor, prioritizing and fully funding public K-12 education, expanding access to quality mental healthcare services, and keeping government out of reproductive decisions that should be between families and their doctors.

“The work done in the General Asssembly today will affect us for decades to come. Shouldn’t the citizens of tomorrow have a hand in that work?” Harris said.

“Together, we can build a Virginia that values education, a Virginia that supports the needs of rural communities, and a Virginia that sees the dignity inherent to each and every one of its citizens, no matter their income level, gender identity or housing status. If you’d allow me to, I’d delight in undertaking that work with you,” Harris said.