No Longer a Marathon It's a Sprint

Last week my campaign rounded the corner and moving into the “kick.” For those unfamiliar with this long-distance running concept it refers to the point when a runner is heading towards the end of the race and transitions from the long-distance pace to a sprint to the finish line. It’s a key component to any long-distance race. If you remember one of my first blog posts “It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint,” then well friends it’s time to kick it in and sprint with everything I’ve got to the end.

So far it’s been a pretty intense pace.

Door Knocking:

Every weekend and on weekdays I’ve visited hundreds of homes all over the district, meeting and most importantly listening to people. Even though it was a brutally hot and humid summer this has been probably my favorite part of the race so far. A couple interesting facts about door knocking. 1) I think there are more dogs than people in our county and most of them run free on the property 2) More people use the side door of their home than the front door. 3) While Goochlanders may not like to be bothered and appreciate their privacy, 97 out of 100 are supportive and appreciative of what I’m doing (the other 3…well you know who you are). When I get to speak to someone, they are almost always kind, and that includes the canine, I haven’t been bitten or chased off a property, yet. 4) Goochlanders must be busy cause lots of people aren’t home on most days.

Office Knocking:

This effort is what I’m calling meeting with experts and people doing the work of our county today. I have spent countless invaluable hours with amazing people that take time out of their busy schedule to help me better understand how the county functions. I have learned about and received updates on a myriad of projects. I have come to understand how different groups interact with each other, for example how the Sheriff’s department interacts with the BOS, and best practices that help to develop a successful working relationship. And there has been so much more.

Meeting Crashing:

Well not crashing because I’m invited to most of them, and when I’m not I try to get an invite. I have been to every BOS meeting, 75% of working sessions, finance meetings, EDA Meetings, Soil and Water meetings, and town hall meetings. If there’s a meeting I’m there. I can say with 100% certainty there is no candidate who’s been to more. I know because most of the time in the non-BOS or planning meetings I’m the only candidate there.

You get the idea. I set an aggressive pace but it’s now time for the “kick” and I’m changing it up a bit. As I mentioned people are usually not around for my door-knocking in our active county and I wind up leaving a ton of cards behind that I don’t know if they will read or not. The “process and data driven-investment vs. reward” geek that Capital One helped to make me, is encouraging me to take a different approach. And while I love and will continue to door-knock, I know there are better ways to meet and really talk to more people. I believe these new approaches will help people to connect with me even more easily and I cannot wait!

So, keep an eye out. I hope to meet you soon. In addition to the new approach there are also several events coming up that I hope you’ll think about attending,

In many races you’ll see people along the route cheering on the runners and sometimes handing out drinks or energy bars to support them. I would truly appreciate any and all support, and there are many different ways to do that.

I will still work to be at every meeting and county event I can find. If you know of an event that you think I should go to….let me know. Other ways you can help include volunteering time for several tasks that are easy and yet critical. And your financial support would truly help with some awareness and support advertising that I would like to do in these last two months, you can do this through my website by clicking on “Contribute.” And you can help by volunteering to display my campaign signs if you are in the county. You can easily get in touch me in a number of ways: send me a note by clicking on “Let’s Chat” on the bottom of my website, message me on Facebook or give me a call at …804-403-8484.

This is the best race I have ever run and as you can see it’s “GRASS ROOTS”. If you think about it, that makes a lot of sense since we live in a Rural County. I’m not coming into this “kick” tired at all, instead I am more energized than ever. Election Day, November 5th is coming fast. I want to show that I will outwork anyone before and after the election because that’s what this county deserves.