HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — The following is a transcription of an interview conducted by WSVA and Rocktown Now with 6th District Democratic Candidate Ken Mitchell. The full interview with Mitchell, as well as fellow running candidates Republican Ben Cline and Independent Robby Wells can be found here.

Question 1
Why are you running for this office?

Ken Mitchell: I’m running for this office because I feel that the middle of our district not the far right, not the far left, but the majority in the middle are looking for good, honest candidates with integrity that represent the district. I’m running to hope to improve the lives of the people of the 6th district and leave no one behind.

Question 2
What’s your background and what do you bring that you think will make you an effective congressman for the 6th district in Virginia?

MITCHELL: Well, at 18 I enlisted in the military and I’m a proud veteran of 24 years of military service. I live in Rockingham County on a small farm, so I’m familiar with some of the agricultural issues. My business background has been with corporate America deploying broadband services and I feel that will be very helpful as we look to improve some of the infrastructure here in the rural areas of our district.
I also ran my own business as a historic contractor for renovations of historic properties, and I worked at Monticello doing that renovation there. I also have worked in engineering, improving water and wastewater systems throughout the 6th Congressional District. So, I have both a broad military background and business background.
I’m the proud father of two daughters, both educated here in Virginia’s public schools at UVA, and JMU, both pediatric nurse practitioners. And I’m the proud grandfather of five children, so I think I have a very broad background that can touch many different areas throughout the district.

Question 3
As you’ve traveled around the sixth district, what are the issues that people have been talking to you about that are of paramount concern to them?

MITCHELL: Obviously the economy for Main Street has been a very, very popular issue that I’ve heard about. Loss of agricultural farmland into development throughout the area is very key to us and just the overall general health and welfare of the district.

Question 4
Washington, right now, is broken in some people’s estimation. What do you think you bring that you would be able to facilitate actual things happening in Washington? That’s one of the common complaints we hear a lot from folks, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re on the right or whether you’re on the left.

MITHCELL: You know my background in the military was apolitical and I served six years in the White House at the end of my military career, in both a Republican and a Democratic administration. And I saw how legislation can work when you’re cooperative and when you are willing to lead from the middle, which I am willing to do. And I think that I am not drawn into any partisan, whether it be the far right, far left. I am shooting down the middle where common sense and common ground exist. I think that I can take my life experience, my military experience, and I can lead effectively and not get drawn into the partisanship that is occurring up there. I think what people are going to be looking for is honesty and integrity and that’s what I will bring to the office. And I am willing to sit down and work with anybody to get legislation done. I stand for my country over my party, and I think people going in there, that people should expect to have representation that is principled, valued and has integrity.

Question 5
You mentioned agriculture. You have some experience with that. One of the big issues you also alluded to, is that farmland is disappearing. What types of actions do you think you could take as the congressman for Virginia’s 6th Congressional District to help not only the family farmers, but also the very large agricultural industry we have here in The Valley.

MITCHELL: Well, you know, I think simply by again being honest and truthful as to what the challenges are. You know, we still haven’t got a farm bill passed. We’ve got a lot of small farmers that do not have the advantages of big ag. And I think it’s time that we take a look and lean towards Main Street over Wall Street and the small farmer over the big ag in this. You know, some of the things I hear from some of the farmers is turning over the farmland for inheritance and turning the next generational farm over. Some of that has been egregious with some of the taxes and some of the things that occur there, so I think I want to make it a bit simpler there and see if we can get some tax relief in that area.
The other area that’s very challenging is young folks trying to get into farming at the high cost of farmland where we have developers that are competing for these small farms that become available on the market and I want to make sure that through the American Farmland Trust that there’s some opportunities and working cooperatively with the banking industry for the agriculture to see if we can get some of these young farmers in there.
The other thing that I think is key to agriculture is making sure that we have good strong local markets and that the markets that we do have are not going to be compounded by tariffs and things that put the knee on the neck of a small farmer.

Question 6
If elected, what will be your top priority on day one?

MITCHELL: You know, depending upon, I’m asking to sit on the Agriculture Committee and I’m asking to sit on the rural caucus. So, depending upon what committees they have me set on, the one thing that I want to do is make sure that I lean into Main Street over Wall Street and make sure that the hard-working men and women have opportunities that are not restricted by corporate America and make sure that hard working American families get some relief in some of this economic condition we find ourselves.

To find more information on Ken Mitchell visit www.kenmitchellforvirginia.com.