Democrat Sam Rasoul, on his third bid for public office after failed attempts to win a seat in Congress and a run for Roanoke City mayor, is headed to the General Assembly as the 11th District delegate. Rasoul, a 32-year-old businessman, easily beat Republican challenger Octavia Johnson, the now-former Roanoke City sheriff, by a 70-30% margin in a special election on January 7.
Rasoul takes the seat held by 5-term incumbent Onzlee Ware, a Democrat who said he was retiring just weeks after winning an uncontested election to “take care of his ailing mother.” Shortly thereafter reports also indicated that Ware is getting ready to be offered a judgeship that he could not have accepted as a serving house member.
Rasoul said he not only didn’t realize he would be victorious by such a wide margin, “I didn’t know I was going to win. I was worried to the end. It was quite a surprise.”
In conceding the election Octavia Johnson said, “I congratulate Sam on his election and wish him the best of luck in the House of Delegates. While I wish tonight had turned out differently, I am still grateful for the opportunity I had to serve the people of Roanoke as Sheriff. I will continue to work to improve the lives of the people of Roanoke and continue fighting for the issues important to them. I want to thank everyone who voted for me, as well as my campaign staff and the hundreds of volunteers who helped our campaign.”
Rasoul said he was headed to Richmond the next morning and didn’t know where he would be staying. “I haven’t packed one bag or anything.” With the General Assembly session starting the day after the special election he didn’t have much time to catch his breath. “I have to get it all figured out pretty quick.”
Rasoul said his campaign style, advancing “positive politics,” was the way to go. “I wholeheartedly believe people are sick of negative politics. I do everything I can to have a positive message and focus on the issues. I believe that people respond well to it.” The 11th House district covers much of Roanoke City.
The new delegate said he was ready to caucus with other House members, including local delegates like Republican Greg Habeeb of Salem, to be more effective. “We’ve got to work together for the Roanoke Valley, “said Rasoul. “This is the only Democratic seat in the region. If we’re genuine about trying to help Roanoke, we’re going to need to work together, especially since redistricting we continue to lose seats to Northern Virginia. It’s very important for us to work together.”
Building relationships as a freshman delegate is at the top of Rasoul’s to-do list; he also wants to help connect the business community to local educators. “I want to see more and more of our [high school] seniors graduating with tangible skills that the business community is looking for. That way we can attract business and great paying jobs to the area.”
Rasoul is a small business owner himself and the former CFO for Kissito Healthcare. He has also mentioned working on mental health-related issues as another focus, with the recent Creigh Deeds situation as a motivator – the state Senator and former candidate for governor was severely assaulted by his mentally ill son Gus, who then killed himself. Deeds has recovered and will also work for mental health care reforms.
The third time was indeed the charm for Rasoul, after failing to unseat Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Roanoke Mayor David Bowers in past runs. “It takes time for people to get to know you, to become comfortable with you. If you knock on enough doors and you have a positive message focused on the issues and work hard, good things can happen. We validated that positive politics can work.”
Now Rasoul will try to take that same positive approach to Richmond for the 60-day “long” session that started right after his swearing in on the 8th.
By Gene Marrano
