Del. Bobby Orrock had never held public office before he defeated a five-term delegate to win the 54th District House seat in 1989.
Now the Republican, who has represented parts of Caroline and Spotsylvania counties ever since, is facing Democrat challenger Neri Canahui–Ortiz, who is running for public office for the first time.
The son of a former Caroline County supervisor, Orrock said he became interested in politics after noticing the philosophical differences between the two parties. He joined the Caroline Republican Committee, won the Republican primary and beat Spotsylvania Democrat Robert Ackerman to win a seat in the House of Delegates.
“It was all with the premise of service,” he said.
Canahui–Ortiz emigrated from war-torn Guatemala when he was 17 in hopes of building a brighter future in Virginia. He worked in construction, fell victim to wage theft and subsequently joined Carpenters Union Local 1665. He was elected as its president in 2006, and served as its president and on the executive board of the Northern Virginia Labor Federation until last year.
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A key goal then, as well as now, is to protect construction workers from the same exploitation he suffered early in his career, he said.
Both men see boosting jobs and the economy as one of their priorities.
Orrock said his focus is on helping businesses create more jobs locally because this increases tax revenue, helps to ease traffic congestion since fewer people would have to commute and improves their quality of life because they don’t have to spend as much time on the road.
Canahui–Ortiz favors raising the minimum wage, and expanding collective bargaining rights so employees are better able to negotiate wages and benefits. He also supports reforming the state procurement process to reduce misclassification of hourly employees as independent contractors, which a JLARC study found is costing the state millions in tax revenue.
The two candidates have similar views when it comes to education. Orrock counts enhanced opportunities for career and technical education as one of his major accomplishments, and said he wants to make sure the proper education funding is going to classrooms. He voted for an additional $13 million toward K–12 education in 2017, and supported the 2 percent pay increase for public school teachers that went into effect last year.
Canahui–Ortiz wants schools to be fully funded, favors universal pre-kindergarten and supports the expansion of vocational and trade apprenticeship programs.
When it comes to health care, Orrock cited his involvement with new legislation that enhances access to telemedicine and allows most nurse practitioners to practice without a physician’s oversight. Canahui–Ortiz said that Virginia needs to continue its expansion of Medicaid because no family should be one unexpected medical bill away from bankruptcy.
Orrock’s also said he wants to reduce the tax burden on Virginians. He said he deals with various tax policies as part of his committee assignments, and always keeps in mind that they’re dealing with taxpayers’ money. He said that if the General Assembly hadn’t approved giving a refund to taxpayers from the windfall generated by changes in the federal tax laws, legislators would have been complicit in a tax increase.
Additional priorities for Canahui–Ortiz include updating transportation infrastructure to ease traffic congestion and provide walkable neighborhoods, and ensuring all public infrastructure projects are done with responsible contractors who employ local workers and provide training.
He also supports automatically restoring the voting rights of those who have served their time, and reforming the criminal justice system so it emphasizes rehabilitation and education, not just penalization.
Orrock lives on a farm in Woodford and taught agriculture at Spotsylvania High School for more than 30 years before retiring recently. He is also chairman of the Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee and the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission; and serves on the Agriculture, Finance, Rules and Chesapeake and Natural Resources committees and the Disability Commission.
He said that when the General Assembly is working on broad issues, he focuses on the impacts decisions could have on rural and farm communities.
“Agriculture is still a top economic driver in Virginia,” Orrock said. “I want to continue supporting industries, and I’m keenly aware of property rights.”
Canahui–Ortiz, who lives in Spotsylvania County, is a union representative for Keystone Mountain Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters. He said that he’s presented union views at five General Assembly sessions, and noticed that many of the bills being passed favored businesses over workers.
“Virginia is ranked No. 1 for business, but it’s also been ranked the worst for workers’ rights,” he said. “So that’s what made me run. I was battling for several years on doing that. Finally, I said ... if I keep on waiting for someone else to run, in my district, it will never happen.
“So we need different voices, different backgrounds, different people so we can really understand and take decisions for the betterment of the people in the 54th district.”