Cooperative Living May 2019 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 73, No. 5
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Design & E-Media Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
STEVE JOHNSON
Director of Member and Public Relations
NINA JACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Fax: (804) 346-3448
Email: bsherrod@vmdaec.com
Web: co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Chairman
FLETCHER B. JONES
Vice Chairman
PATRICIA S. DOREY
Secretary/Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson, Jr.,
A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George N.
Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Micheal
E. Malandro, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon,
Community; James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, CraigBotetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg; Russell G.
Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck; Wade C. House, Stan C.
Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale McNiel, Randell Myers,
Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Casey J. Logan, Prince George;
Linda R. Gray, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock; Larry C.
Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings, Shenandoah Valley; Frank W.
Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
Amanda Cunningham (804) 297-3429
National Advertising Representative: AMP,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of AMP network of
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9 million homes and businesses.
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COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
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issues, by the Va., Md. & Del. Association of Electric
Cooperatives. POSTMASTER, address changes
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magazine nor the electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland, and Delaware endorses any products or
services advertised herein. If any readers encounter
non-compliance with these standards, they are
asked to inform the Editor.
Back to Basics
It's our most basic civic duty. Here in the
Old Dominion, we have an opportunity
to fulfill it every year. In fact, next month
many Virginians will have their next chance
to do so. How? By voting on June 11.
W
e live in an anxious age. We may
lack sleep, but we surely don't
lack information.
The blogosphere has become a virtual
universe, constantly expanding, constantly
birthing new stars, twinkling megabytes and
gigabytes of data from across the political
spectrum. The true and the false, the important
and the trivial, all populate this digital night sky.
In such a sky, awash with seemingly infinite
bits and bytes of information, finding our North
Star is daunting. Where is the information we
need to make informed decisions? Which sources
are reliable? How do we tell wheat from chaff?
These are questions harder than ever to
answer, pursuits harder than ever to complete.
Yet they're pursuits more critical than ever to
our continued success as a nation.
After all, our own Mr. Jefferson cautioned us
that " the cornerstone of democracy rests on
the foundation of an educated electorate. "
And so, despite today's political gridlock and
media overload - or more importantly,
because of them - it's essential that we be, or
become, an educated electorate. And that we
fulfill that most basic of civic duties: voting.
Many Virginians will have an opportunity to
go to the polls next month. On June 11, they'll
be voting in primaries to select candidates to run
in this fall's general election. The results of the
June 11 primaries will be important to your
future, to our future. And calling primaries
important is neither hype nor hyperbole. In truth,
every election for public office - whether
primary or general - is an important election.
Virginia is an open primary state, meaning
no one registers by party affiliation. In districts
holding a primary election, registered voters
may go to the polls on June 11 or vote by
absentee ballot in advance. Whether you're a
Republican, a Democrat or an Independent,
you may vote in either the Democratic or
Republican primary, but not in both.
On the ballot will be candidates seeking their
party's nomination for the House of Delegates
and the Senate of Virginia. At press time, there
were 49 candidates on the ballot in 20 House
2
districts, and 38 candidates in 15 Senate districts,
all hoping to be their party's nominee.
In addition, the June 11 primaries will also
include candidates pursuing their party's
nomination for local offices like Board of
Supervisors, Commonwealth's Attorney,
Treasurer and Sheriff.
There will be primaries from the Cumberland
Gap to the Eastern Shore, and from Southside
Virginia to the southern banks of the Potomac.
Since some districts opt for a convention or
caucus to select their nominees, be sure to check
first with local election officials. You'll find more
information at elections.virginia.gov or vpap.org.
As political pundits have noted many times
over many years, Virginia is renowned as a
haven for lovers. Lovers of all manner of good
things. Yes, including politics. As anyone who's
been here for even a couple of years has likely
noticed, there always seems to be an election
going on in Virginia.
And that's because there is. Every year. We
hold federal elections in even years, state and
local elections in odd ones.
But no matter the level of government, public
officials elected today in Virginia face a full
menu of challenges: state and local taxes,
infrastructure needs, rural broadband, urban and
suburban sprawl, gang crime, school crowding,
revitalizing rural areas and small towns, the
future of family farms, rising health care costs,
care for the elderly and those with mental health
issues, the need for more hospitals, higher
education costs ... and so it goes, and on it goes.
These issues face us at a time when it's
increasingly difficult to find servant-leaders willing
to run for public office ... and at times willing to
remain there. Today's candidates navigate mazes
their forebears never knew, from rapidly escalating
campaign costs to the unyielding glare of the
social media spotlight.
So, on June 11, we hope you'll exercise your
right to vote, and help select the best possible
candidates to run for these important offices
during these challenging times. You'll become
part of that firm foundation supporting the
cornerstone of our democracy. 
co-opliving.com
http://www.co-opliving.com http://elections.virginia.gov http://www.vpap.org http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living May 2019
