Being a former teacher and now on the Newport News School Board “has given me insight into how Richmond can better serve our local schools…. The state has cut over $22 million dollars from our Newport News Public School Budget alone since 2009 and this is simply unacceptable.

“I am a proponent of STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) [and] working with industry to increase the number of apprenticeships available to our students. … We have to invest in our citizens so they can …drive their own destinies just like the great Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, believed all citizens could do.”

Biography: Former teacher. Member, Newport News School Board, school district Career and Technical Education Advisory Board, Governor’s Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation. Former president, Hines Middle School PTA. Vice-Chair of Board, New Horizons Regional Education Centers. Master’s in Communication from Stanford. International Relations major and Phi Beta Kappa academic honors from Bucknell. Fluent in Spanish after several years in Spain, Costa Rica and Chile. Taught Spanish at Hilton Elementary School. Previous career in journalism and public relations. Lives with her husband, an aeronautical engineer, and their two daughters in the Hilton area of Newport News.

Issues: Create jobs by giving Virginia companies first crack at state contracts, Make education a top priority. Defend a woman’s personal liberty and right to make her own healthcare decisions. Fight for our environment and sustainable communities. Work to provide affordable and accessible healthcare. Work across party lines on criminal justice reform. Ethics reform.

Opponent: Incumbent Republican David Yancey does not care about his constituents. He voted against Medicaid expansion. He voted to take away health care from women. He voted to allow discrimination against same sex couples. He voted for anti-immigrant bills like HB 2002 (would publicly reveal the personal info of legal refugees fleeing persecution). He voted to reinstate tax credits for coal companies at the expense of the rest of us. He voted to allow guns to be kept loaded in foster homes and brought into emergency shelters. These are not fiscally prudent, safe, or inclusive policies.

Recent elections: This District voted for Hillary by 5.55% over Trump, and voted for Obama by 5.3% over Romney. Simonds and Yancey have faced off before. But leading up to the 2017 election, Yancey had more votes on his record, and Shelly had new achievements on hers.