New Legislator Bios HD 2: Jennifer Carroll Foy -D (Dudenhefer) I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you my story because I think you deserve to know more about me and what I believe. When I was growing up, my grandfather always said, “If you have it, you have to give it.” Those words stuck with me when I was at VMI; they were the reason I served as a foster parent; and they are a guiding principle I live by as a public defender. Giving back has been, and must continue to be, the foundation of Virginia. That is why I’ve made it my life’s work. When I was at Virginia Military Institute (VMI), I knew I had to defy the odds and graduate in order to have the opportunity to give back. I enrolled in the third class of female cadets to attend the historically all-male college. On my first day, they shaved my head and said, “Welcome to VMI.” My best male friend bet me a dollar that I wouldn’t last a year. Well, I won that bet and graduated with a degree in English. I know the deck seems stacked against us. Washington is a mess and politicians prefer gridlock over results. But every time I look my kids in the eyes, or walk into work as a public defender, I know we have to fight toward a fairer, stronger, and more just Virginia. I’m running for delegate to continue to give back to the community that has given me so much. HD 10: Wendy Gooditis – D (Minchew) Wendy was raised to work hard and serve others. She grew up in Cranbury, New Jersey with two older brothers. Her father spent his childhood in rural Alabama during the Great Depression, where his family had scraped and saved to buy milk for him as an infant. As an adult, he rode in a commuter van over two hours each day to work, but still found time to teach Wendy how to play the piano and work hard for what she believed in. Her mother and grandmother were public school teachers. In the 1930s Wendy’s grandmother pushed social limits to earn her graduate degree, and Wendy’s mother followed suit. From them, Wendy learned early the importance of education, perseverance, and working women. In college, Wendy applied her equestrian background to service. She worked as a student mounted marshal for the Rutgers Police, logging 30 hours a week with a full course load. After graduating, she applied her details-oriented mind to technology. Following in her family's tradition of strong, working women, Wendy went on to lead a team of mid-career men at Bell Laboratories when she was 26 years old. After she met Chris, her husband of 25 years, Wendy made the move to Virginia. When she had kids in the mid-1990s, she became enamored with education. Wendy received her Masters in Education from Shenandoah University, taught in the Clarke County public school system, at an area private school, and partially homeschooled her children. As her kids entered college, Wendy knew that she would need to help pay the tuition bills. She joined RE/MAX as a realtor in 2013, and has been there since. Like millions of other Americans in 2017, Wendy decided that she had to get off the sidelines. She co- founded an Indivisible chapter in the predominantly red Clarke County, and grew the organization to over 300 members. Now, she’s running for the Virginia House of Delegates to take her wide-ranging experiences and two decades in the district to advocate for us in Richmond. She believes that our government should give everyone a fair shot. Virginia should be a place with job opportunities, safe roads, clean air, and equal opportunity. Wendy has the experience, perspective, and heart to represent District 10 in the Virginia House of Delegates. , HD 12: Chris Hurst – D (Yost) I’ve dedicated my life to public service and giving a voice to the people of southwest Virginia. When I came here almost a decade ago as a reporter, I quickly identified with our shared values of strong families, a strong faith and personal integrity. I fell in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains and the people living in small towns with big hearts. As a journalist, I’ve been a fierce advocate for families struggling for access to mental health care and equality in education for students with special needs. I’ve investigated reasons why our workforce must adapt for the careers of the future. I’ve documented the dramatic rise of child abuse and opioid addiction. And I’ve held government leaders accountable while showing how our first responders are left without vital resources. I decided to leave journalism and run for office after recovering from profound tragedy. In 2015, I was just beginning a new life with my late girlfriend, Alison Parker. Alison and Adam Ward’s murder on television shocked the country and set me on a different path. My career in news was fulfilling but instead of asking questions, I became focused on finding solutions. Your continued prayers and support now give me the strength to move forward and be a courageous fighter for all Virginians. I was raised outside of Philadelphia. My father works in advertising and was a small business owner and mechanic. He’s also published two books on racing photography! My mother was a teacher and worked for non-profits, including as Director of Programs for the National Constitution Center. (They are my personal heroes, if you couldn’t tell.) I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism from Emerson College and love to read, kayak, and hike the Blue Ridge Mountains with my lab-border collie mix, Sophie. HD 13: Danica Roem – D (Marshall) When I was a kid, my grandfather told me, "The basis of my knowledge comes from reading the newspaper every day." After a while, mine did too. In fact, I ended up majoring in journalism and spent the last 10.5 years reporting the news, including nine years in Prince William County, my lifelong home area as a resident of Manassas. I was born at Prince William Hospital in Manassas, attended Loch Lomond Elementary School (K-3), All Saints School (4-8) and Paul VI (9-12) before heading to western New York for college at St. Bonaventure University - where my aunt and uncle graduated - for a total of 13 years of Catholic schooling. I started working for the Gainesville Times a month after graduating college in 2006 and reported for the Prince William Times too once our paper expanded to the eastern side of the county. I started transitioning while working at the newspaper in 2012, began hormone replacement therapy Dec. 3, 2013, changed my name, gender and byline in 2015 and no one cared. It was great. I could just keep doing my job. If you're from Prince William County, Manassas or Manassas Park, you might have seen me at high school sports games, debates, hearings or events, or at least recognized my hideous car in the parking lot. I covered games at every public high school in the county. I saw the best in people tackling poverty and homelessness and the worst in people killing each other. I wrote stories about schools, business, development, and, of course, transportation. Lots and lots and lots of transportation: Bi-County Parkway. Tri-County Parkway. Sudley Manor. Vint Hill. Linton Hall. That little bridge in Nokesville (Aden Road). If you ran for office in western Prince William, we talked transportation. My job was to know enough about the issues to hold elected officials accountable for what they did, or didn't do, about them. As a reporter, I had to listen to what people were saying and understand their reasoning, regardless of my own opinions. That’s something I had reinforced to me as the news editor of the Montgomery County Sentinel in Rockville, Md., where I worked from August 2015 until the end of 2016, when I left my post to run for office. It's a lot easier to judge people than understand them. Anyone can just spout off stuff but what makes journalism special is you have to actually pay attention, vet your facts, receive an earful from your editor and improve your work while reporting the news as a neutral, disinterested, third-party observer. Likewise, I want to bring to bring a reporter's sensibility to Mr. Jefferson's Capitol. I'm running for office to help improve our quality of life by working on the issues I spent nine years reporting about for the newspaper. At the same time, my number one job for the campaign isn't to speak... it's to listen to the residents, write down their concerns, ideas and questions, follow-up with them, and work what they tell me into my policy platform. That's how I took notes and wrote news stories and that's how I'll craft public policy: Research. Question. Listen. Report. When I was growing up, my legislative role models were Sen. Chuck Colgan (D-29) and Del. Harry Parrish (R-50), the independent-minded "dynamic duo" who represented Manassas in the General Assembly. You didn't have to agree with them on every issue to see that they worked hard to build consensus, govern with a results-oriented approach and reach across the aisle to build a better Manassas, all while being among the most genial, well-respected and powerful members of the General Assembly.