ELECTION 2023: Page, Whitehead seek Democratic nomination in race for Three Chopt supervisor's seat
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The Three Chopt District’s seat on the Henrico County Board of Supervisors will be up for election in November (along with the other four seats on the board), and Democrats Misty Whitehead and Noah Page are campaigning for their party’s nomination.
A primary election on June 20 will determine which candidate will face incumbent Republican Tommy Branin in the November general election.
Noah Page
Noah Page has proven to herself that she can incite meaningful and effective change, and now she aspires to be on the other side of the negotiations, as a member of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors.
“I have the experience of changing the way local government actually operates for the better, and that is the exact job description of an elected official,” Page said.
Page’s accomplishments in addressing violence prevention and housing affordability motivated her to run for the board. Those two issues would be primary areas of focus for Page, as she has made it her life’s work to make a positive impact in addressing them.
Page was the driving force behind the Richmond Police Department educating its officers about using and enforcing red flag laws, she said. Before that, some officers were entirely unaware of what red flag laws were. Red flag laws are just one violence prevention solution Page hopes to implement in Henrico.
The laws aim to prevent gun violence by providing a legal mechanism for police officers to use when people with firearms are at high risk of being a danger to themselves or others but can’t be arrested because no crime has been committed.
Page’s first job was in the field of domestic and sexual violence, working one-on-one with victims and helping them – sometimes minutes after they were assaulted. Page now runs a housing program for people who have experienced violence and has been responsible for systemic changes in that area, she said.
“We really just need to be intentional about how we focus on building affordable housing,” she said. “Not letting developers come in and build whatever they want.”
Page spoke about prioritizing the interests of unions, increasing pay for workers and making sure county employees were well compensated. She believes the board should continue its collaboration with the county’s school board to raise teacher pay, keep up with facilities and keep class sizes small, she said.
The first issue Page got involved in locally was reapportionment, which maps out the districts in the county. Alongside the NAACP and other community members, Page presented alternative maps to the county, and said she was surprised by the progress they made when they put pressure in the right places. In the process, she gained more understanding of how the local government works.
Page believes her understanding of what it is like to live in Henrico makes her the best candidate to represent the Three Chopt District, as her income and education levels are the same as an average adult in Henrico, she said. Page said she was willing to do the work necessary to win and that she is demonstrating that through her campaigning efforts.
Page is believed to be the first openly transgender woman to run for public office in Henrico.
“I see why it's important to people, but what I'd really like to focus on even more than that is women's rights,” Page said. “The right to choose, especially. I think it is really important to have your local officials be vocal in their support of abortion access.”
Page prides herself upon being responsive and said she is active in responding to messages on social media platforms and wants people to feel like their voices are being heard. As a supervisor, she wants to appoint people to her team who will be as responsive as she is, she said.
Originally from Lynchburg, Page has lived in Henrico for about 15 years. She hopes to increase the inclusion of community members in Henrico’s government process by establishing regular town hall meetings.
Misty Whitehead
After Misty Whitehead graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University as an undergrad, she wanted to change the world through law. Now that she has spent 18 years practicing law, she wants to make an even bigger impact – this time through local politics.
“There are a lot of things that we have been doing right, but we have so much potential to do more,” Whitehead said. She believes Henrico needs to divert resources to programs that have proven to be effective.
Whitehead cited Project Imagine, which addresses youth gang violence, as an example of a type of program she would support creating in Henrico. She said she would fund new programs by using Henrico’s budget in a different manner. Danville funded Project Imagine with money from the American Rescue Plan, while Henrico has earmarked its $64.2 million from that same plan to fund water and sewage extension projects.
“If [developers] want to build these expensive communities, why don’t they help support water and sewage?” Whitehead said. “That way, we can use $64 million for programs that actually prevent families from dissolving, children from being in juvenile detention or adults from developing drug addictions.”
In the role of supervisor, Whitehead wants to improve areas that she believes have been historically neglected. She doesn’t think Henrico has focused enough on topics like mental health services and the opioid crisis, and she wants to increase efforts toward looking into new ways of addressing current problems that are outside of the status quo.
Whitehead cited the Virginia Department of Education’s Engage Virginia program as an example of problem solving efforts that Henrico did not take advantage of that she would have supported. Engage Virginia is a statewide program that assisted children in recovering from the impact the pandemic had on learning.
She plans to invite ideas from community members for beneficial programs, she said, and intends to host regular meetings, be active on social media and digital forums and reach out to homeowners associations, retirement communities and schools.
As a trial lawyer, Whitehead learned how to gather reliable information and build a case. This work translates effortlessly into a role in politics, she said, because politics largely involves gathering reliable information, articulating your position and advocating for it.
On the board of supervisors, Whitehead believes she would be able to harness the collaboration and mediation skills she gained as a lawyer to find common ground and move forward in creating policy. She believes her skillset makes her the proven effective advocate best suited for the seat.
“I do think that my skill set, whether it's because of my military experience, whether it's because of my educational background, my professional expertise, or just the fact that I have lived a life that I have pulled from so many different experiences, there's not a room that I can be in that I feel uncomfortable speaking in,” Whitehead said.
After enlisting at the age of 16 and serving in the military, Whitehead moved to the Richmond area to attend VCU more than 20 years ago. She has lived in the area ever since, aside from her time spent at William & Mary School of Law.
In 2020, Whitehead was set to work for the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office in a new role for police oversight, but County Manager John Vithoulkas froze funding for the position after learning that she had made social media posts that he believed showed anti-police bias.
Whitehead said that the situation was not the reason she decided to run for public office, but rather that it weighed in as something that had impacted her livelihood and career path. It made her take a closer look at local politics.
“I think that started opening my eyes up to look at all of these things that are really happening more so on the local level that impact our daily lives, than in the big scheme of things,” Whitehead said.
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LEARN MORE
Misty Whitehead's campaign website
Virginia Department of Elections – Citizen Portal
