ELKTON — Kellen Squire described his first run for political office as “interesting,” a feeling of taking a running jump into a pool, looking down mid-leap and realizing it was the Grand Canyon.

Squire began his campaign to represent the 58th District in the House of Delegates in January as the Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican Del. Rob Bell in the November election.

Bell has served in the House since 2002 and has not faced a challenger since the 2009 general election. The district covers part of Rockingham County, including Elkton, as well as parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna and Greene counties.

Squire says he is running on a people-first platform advocating for rural Virginia.

“People should vote for me if they want somebody that will stand up for them before anyone else, who will put people before party and will fight for working folks, because that’s what I intend to do,” Squire said, “and I don’t ever intend to stop.”

Squire spent Tuesday morning holding “office hours” at the McDonald’s in Elkton, where he introduced himself to patrons.

‘Unfiltered View’

Squire, 32, is an emergency room nurse at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville and studied nursing at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated in 2011.

He was also recently accepted into James Madison University’s nurse practitioner program, a course load he will take on based on availability with his job and potential role as delegate.

His main focus is on health care, given his experience in the field, which has attracted some to his campaign, said Lili Bennett, Squire’s field director.

“I think a lot of people are probably very interested in the fact that he’s an E.R. nurse and that he has a perspective on a lot of the issues that’s really rooted in actual, real-life experience that he can recount,” Bennett said.

His job gives him an “unfiltered view of what’s going on in the community,” he said.

Squire said he sees people come to the emergency room every day because they do not have another option, despite the E.R. being the least efficient and most costly way to treat a patient.

That’s one reason why he is in favor of Medicaid expansion, a contentious issue over the past several years in the General Assembly.

The GOP-controlled General Assembly has declined to expand the health care program for the poor and disabled under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

Democrats say it will extend health coverage to an estimated 400,000 low-income Virginians.

Republicans, however, say it would create unsustainable costs in the future.

Bell is opposed to expansion.

Another health care issue Squire identified is access in rural areas.

For example, Squire said, smaller towns such as Elkton and the surrounding area do not have many doctors, with some patients traveling to Charlottesville for treatment.

When access to treatment is limited, he said, people may ignore symptoms or put off appointments until their condition worsens and they end up in the E.R.

One way to address the issue in rural areas, he said, is to allow nurse practitioners to provide care independently.

They are trained to provide many of the same services as doctors, but Virginia law requires them to work under the supervision of a licensed physician.

Squire said he hopes his role in the nursing field prevents him from losing his connection to the community, something he feels career politicians sometimes lose sight of.

“That’s what the House of Delegates was designed to do,” he said. “They’re supposed to be citizen-legislators.”