ELECTION 2023: Three Republicans seek party's 59th District House of Delegates nomination
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In the newly drawn Virginia House of Delegates’ 59th District, three Republicans are vying to win the June 20 primary: Graven Craig and Philip Strother are running against Del. Hyland “Buddy” Fowler, who has represented District 55 since 2014.
The district covers parts of the Fairfield and Brookland districts in Northern Henrico County, the western side of Hanover County and most of Louisa County. Democrat Rachel Levy is also running for the seat and will face the winner of the Republican primary in the November general election. Voters within the district’s new boundaries typically favor Republicans – Gov. Glenn Youngkin received 63% of their votes in the 2021 gubernatorial election, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Craig has raised the most money of the three candidates during the current calendar year, according to VPAP – nearly $126,000 between Jan. 1 and June 8 – an amount that includes a $25,000 loan from the law firm of which he is a co-owner (CraigWilliams PLC) and a $20,000 donation from Beachtree Group, a Northern Virginia-based land-conservation organization.
Fowler raised about $101,000 during the same timeframe, according to VPAP – including just more than $88,000 between April 1 and June 8, with nearly all of that coming from 72 donations of more than $100 (the largest of which – $10,000 each – came from the Dominion Energy Political Action Committee and the Gilbert for Delegate campaign), according to VPAP.
Strother raised just shy of $21,000 during the first quarter of this year, primarily from individual donors (led by Buford R. Blevins, III, who gave $3,500). He raised only $1,788 between April 1 and June 8, according to his campaign finance report filings as posted by VPAP.
Graven Craig
Graven Craig has spent more than 20 years as a lawyer learning how to understand legal issues, human nature and framing arguments and is now ready to take his skills to Richmond to make the changes he believes the state needs.
“I, at the age of 56, decided that I could either sit back and just practice law and continue to make a nice living, which I do, or I could get in the fight and try to do something about it,” Craig said, “and I chose the latter.”
Craig has owned several real estate businesses and various other small businesses in Louisa County during the past 20-plus years, he said. He has practiced in law firms since 1999 and spent six years at a Second Amendment law firm he opened with partner Ken Cuccinelli, a former attorney general of Virginia.
In 2017, Craig finished second to John McGuire in the Republican Primary for the Virginia House of Delegates’ 56th District seat.
Craig believes his legal experience makes him well-suited for the House of Delegates. He said he never “draws first blood” when a case gets heated and always tries be professional and honest.
“I think that understanding human nature, understanding legal issues [and] understanding constitutional issues are all things that you need to be successful in legislation,” Craig said. “You also have to be able to work with other people.”
Craig sees a chance for bipartisan collaboration on two issues that are important to him: government transparency and overreach of administrative agencies. He pointed out that there are more than 130 Class One misdemeanors and three felonies in the Virginia Administrative Code. He finds it concerning that administrative agencies can create laws without the approval of the General Assembly, he said.
The transparency Craig advocates for applies to schools as well. He believes there needs to be more communication and discussion between school boards and parents about what the curriculum is and about what happens within the schools’ walls. He believes in prioritizing teaching writing, arithmetic and history, he said.
Craig believes in reducing government spending, reducing taxes and reducing regulations to allow businesses to be more effective. He does not support the adoption of more gun laws to reduce gun violence, but rather favors addressing mental health needs and holding people accountable who use guns for evil purposes, he said.
“It's not a gun problem, it's a person problem,” Craig said, “and we need to get people back on a moral compass.”
Craig has earned the “Super Lawyers” designation each year since 2011, recognition from a program of Thomson Reuters that is bestowed upon about 5% of attorneys annually and is based upon peer recognition and professional achievement.
If ultimately elected to the seat, Craig plans to go to Richmond, work hard for a period of time, then make space for somebody else once he feels his time is up, he said. He believes that approach is one that all delegates should take.
Buddy Fowler
After the Virginia Redistricting Plan shifted the political landscape, Buddy Fowler questioned whether or not he wanted to run for re-election, he said. He felt that the new District 59 suited him well and decided he wanted to continue serving for the betterment of Virginia.
Fowler has been on the House Finance Committee since his first term and currently serves as its vice chair. During his time on the committee, his priority has been to cut taxes (most recently as per Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desire), and he helped to create a rainy day fund and deposit money into the Virginia Retirement System, he said.
“I think we're making targeted investments in very important areas, and not least of which is our hardworking taxpayers,” Fowler said. He supported the reduction of the state sales tax rate on groceries to 1% and the lowering of taxes on military retirement pay.
Fowler also serves on the general laws committee, where he has supported workforce development reform bills. The enacted legislation streamlined and consolidated all of the state’s workforce development programs into one place in order to improve efficiency and help more Virginians become capable to enter the workforce.
In the Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, Fowler is focused on making farmers more competitive and profitable, he said. He sponsored a bill that passed and created agricultural exemptions for sales tax, eliminating it for farmers except for those producing cannabis.
Fowler did not support Virginia entering the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is a cooperative effort among states to reduce carbon emissions from the power sector, he said. Fowler believes cheap electricity attracts business investment, and as the initiative increased electricity pricing, he created legislation to remove Virginia from the initiative (which failed in the Senate).
Fowler sponsored a bill that will require the Board of Education to create and maintain a Virginia Parent Data Portal by July 2025. The portal will make student assessment data and information on state-supported assessments viewable online for parents.
“If you want to have a first-class, quality public education system. . . you have to invest in it.”
Fowler expressed concern about the content that is in K-12 school curriculums. He does not support the discussion of sexuality or critical race theory in schools, he said.
“I really do believe that we need to focus on reading, writing, arithmetic and make sure we can prepare our children for the type of employment or career that they want to prepare for,” Fowler said, “and I'm not sure any of the [topics] that I just discussed really helps in that regard.”
Fowler is in his fifth term representing the 55th District in the House of Delegates. After the redistricting, Fowler established a residence in the 59th District and made it his primary residence, he said.
Outside of his work in the House of Delegates, Fowler enjoys going out into his district and talking to his constituents. He prioritizes having constant contact with the community and sends out a weekly newsletter while the General Assembly is in session, he said. Fowler enjoys visiting churches in his district and attending cookouts, clubs and fairs.
Philip Strother
Philip Strother has lived in and represented citizens in the 59th District for more than 20 years as an attorney, and he now wants the opportunity to serve more people in the district as their delegate in the General Assembly.
As a guardian ad litem in the city of Richmond (an attorney appointed by a judge to assist the court in determining the circumstances of a matter before it), Strother has addressed the educational needs of the children or adolescents in the city of Richmond and advocated on their behalf, he said. He believes his professional journey in service has well-prepared him for the service role of being a legislator.
Strother believes there has been a level of civility and respect that has been missing in American politics. Bipartisan collaboration comes from the starting point of mutual respect and understanding, he said, and legislators should keep that in mind.
“I am committed to acting respectful to everyone who's in the General Assembly, even folks on the opposite side of the aisle, and listening,” Strother said. “Agreeing to disagree at times, but not being disagreeable in the process.”
Strother was the legal architect who helped spearhead the deregulation of the Virginia farm wine industry, which had previously been suffocated by local zoning regulations, he said. Strother has a business in the agritourism industry, the Philip Carter Winery of Virginia.
Another instance in which Strother said he fought against government overreach dealt with a shale mining operation that was proposed for a residential community in Barboursville. A ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court preserved the residential area from mining, Strother said.
“We're going to make sure that there is complete transparency [so] that citizens have input,” Strother said, “and that they understand what kind of developments are going to be going into their communities so that at least their voice can be heard in the process.”
District 59 is largely rural, and Strother has heard concern from community members about keeping it that way. He supports measures that would make sure there is complete transparency in development processes so that citizens have input and their voices heard, he said.
Strother looks forward to working on policy that will increase participation levels in vocational and trade programs so that high schoolers can develop skills that prepare them for the workforce when they graduate. He also wants to address ensuring affordable housing for seniors.
“I think one of the best ways to help our seniors maintain their homes and their dignity, where they live, is that we need to freeze the property tax taxes on primary residences for our seniors who are 65 years and older,” Strother said.
Strother has served on the Henrico Economic Development Authority Board of Directors for almost five years. He supports reducing the tax rates for businesses and finding a balance of regulations on small businesses, he said.
Strother feels that as the only farmer in the race, he has a connection with the district that will enable him to preserve the rural way of life. He believes that his role as an education attorney also distinguishes him as the candidate who can best represent the interests most important to the district’s residents, he said.
LEARN MORE
Graven Craig's campaign website
Buddy Fowler's campaign website
Philip Strother's campaign website
Virginia Department of Elections – Citizen Portal
