Tim Anderson is the Republican candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates District 83. His name will appear on the ballot on Nov. 2.

Candidate: Tim Anderson

Race: Virginia House of Delegates District 83

Party: Republican

Website: timforva.com

Biography: Tim Anderson is a highly respected attorney and small business owner who has called Virginia Beach home for over 25 years. During his law career, he has been awarded Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year and is a two-time winner of the Legal Elite Award from Virginia Business Weekly. Anderson serves as a board member of the Tidewater Bankruptcy Bar, a member of the Davis Corner Rescue Squad, and is a former Cub Scout den leader. Anderson has always prioritized community service, having been part of the UpCenter mentor program, and has been an active participant in the grassroots community.

Anderson is happily married to his wife, Amy, and is the father of three children, James, Alex, and Mayzie. He graduated from the University of Tampa with a degree in economics, obtained his law degree from Regent University, and has been practicing law since 1999. He has been a licensed pilot for 20 years and enjoys flying planes in his spare time.

Anderson felt called to run after the radical Democratic takeover of the Virginia General Assembly in 2019. He believes there must be a check on the one-party rule in Richmond, and his seat is crucial to regaining the majority.

Why should Virginians elect you to the Virginia House of Delegates?

I am not a politician. I’m a local small business owner and attorney who has called Virginia Beach home for over 25 years. I’ve been honored to be awarded Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year and the Legal Elite Award, a Davis Corner Rescue Squad member, and a former Cub Scout den leader. I’ve been a mentor through the UpCenter program, and I care about the hard-working citizens of the 83rd District and want to help turn Virginia in a better, safer, more prosperous direction.

What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

Three things I stand for and will propose once I am elected are growing our economy and jobs, including ending the tax on groceries, reforming our schools and focusing on high academic standards, and protecting our families from the soft-on-crime legislation supported by my opponent that makes every neighborhood less safe. Additionally, we need to take a hard look into campaign finance reform.

What is the most important issue facing your district, and what is your position on it?

The 83rd District is a district of hard-working families, and the government has made life more and more difficult, with gas prices significantly higher than a year ago and my opponent’s gas tax increase making it worse. Food prices are also soaring, and Virginia being the only state on the East Coast that taxes groceries makes it hard for Virginia families to make ends meet. The government has made it difficult for businesses to stay open and for people to get back to work, and these economic pressures must be addressed. I’ll fight to ensure the record surpluses the state has taken in are returned to the taxpayers, and we give tax relief to Virginia families.

What is your position on Virginia’s overall response to the coronavirus pandemic, and what might you have done differently?

Just about everything Governor Northam did was wrong. Virginia was among the lowest states in COVID testing and in vaccination rollout. His shutdown of Virginia small businesses, while some big companies were allowed to flourish, was unfair, ineffective, and wrong. His management of the Virginia Employment Commission ranked near the bottom in getting assistance to the people who needed it. His shutdown of schools set students back at least a year and hurt their academic performance perhaps irreparably. My opponent said and did nothing to improve this horrible performance.

What are the top three issues created by the coronavirus pandemic in your district, and how would you plan to address them?

The pandemic caused severe issues, but the government’s response to the pandemic made a bad situation many times worse. The school shut down replaced in-classroom learning with a failed virtual learning model that widened the education gap by income and forced parents to stay home instead of continuing to work. This problem was made worse by the federal government continuing to pay enhanced unemployment benefits that only recently ended, leaving businesses unable to stay open for lack of people willing to work. Therefore, I will offer legislation requiring the governor to seek legislative approval for his emergency executive orders so that one person cannot shut down an entire economy.

Secondly, hundreds of thousands of businesses closed permanently due to the pandemic, and Virginia’s ranking on small business creation is second-worst in the nation. We must revitalize small businesses and make it easier to get one started or grow an existing business. Small businesses create most jobs, and it is job one to getting our economy growing again.

Third, Virginia’s crime levels increased when businesses and schools shut down, and the Virginia General Assembly focused on getting criminals out of jail sooner than confronting the pandemic. As a result, the murder rate is nearing nightmare proportions. I will repeal the pro-criminal legislation my opponent supported those releases sex offenders early and allows sexual assaults in schools to be covered up.