BRISTOW, Va. — With just over a month to go until Election Day, one Prince William County race is expected to be a competitive battle, pitting a political newcomer in the Democratic Party against a Republican lawmaker, who has been in office for nearly a decade.
It was back in June, when Democrat Deshundra Jefferson delivered a shocker of a result, when she defeated the former chair Ann Wheeler in the Democratic primary. The former journalist and communications professional defeated Wheeler, in part due to her opposition to Data Centers that are too close to residential communities.
Jefferson will be facing off against Republican Jeanine Lawson, who is currently serving as the Brentsville District Supervisor. Lawson defeated her sole primary challenger by a large margin, and has also been a strong critic against Data Centers.
Both candidates spoke one-on-one with WUSA9 to detail their policies, including on the controversial issue of Data Centers.
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson (R)
Lawson was first elected to the Board of County Supervisors in 2014, where she has represented the Brensville District. She is a resident of western Prince William County. We started by asking Lawson why she wanted to job.
"First of all, I want to restore the power to the people of Prince Willilam County," she said. "They've been stripped of power, especially the last four years. And I want to restore common sense policies to go with that."
Lawson argued that her experience on the Board has prepared her well, and given her an edge on her opponent. If elected, she said she would repeal the meals tax and work to reduce the cost of living. She also said she would focus on the crime problem, much of the region is dealing with.
"Crime, crime, and crime," she said. "I'm hearing at the doors everywhere I go. It doesn't matter the community, the zip code. Prince William County residents are fed up with these crime rates and I don't blame them."
Lawson said she is adamantly opposed to data center projects, that have been proposed near residential communities.
"The Data center industry has turned our county upside down the last four years," she said. "It's not the industry we once knew. It's certainly not the industry that I used to work with."
When asked directly about the Devlin Technology Park, a proposal to build a series of data centers in Bristow, she expressed her opposition.
"I moved to deny that project back in February..." she said. "I will absolutely make sure that we defeat that re-zoning case -- whether it's as the Brentsville Supervisor or come January as the chair."
If you want to read more about Lawson's proposed policies, you can visit here.
Deshundra Jefferson (D)
Deshundra Jefferson describes herself as a single mom and a first-generation college graduate on her campaign website. She started her career as a TV reporter in Jackson, Mississippi, before transitioning to politics. We started by asking Jefferson why she wanted the job.
"Prince William County is at a crossroads," she said. "We are growing. As the region grows, we too will grow. But we have to think what growth looks like. We have to think about what direction we want our county to go in."
Jefferson said her top priorities include the lowering of the cost of living in the county, the creation of more housing, and investment in public schools and public safety.
"We need more housing at every income level," she said. "Also, fostering public safety. We have seen rising crime. Certainly we need to make sure we hire more officers and more fire. But in order to do that, we've got to raise their pay. We've got to give them better working conditions."
Jefferson said that data centers can have a role in the county. However, she said the board needed to "be careful" where they are approved. She said she opposed data centers that are too close to residential homes.
"We need to keep data centers away from homes, schools, and national parks," she said.
On Thursday morning, Jefferson received some backlash from the Facebook Group "Say No To Devlin Tech Park," a group fighting against a series of data centers proposed for the Bristow area, by Devlin Road.
The post indicated that Jefferson had been removed from the Facebook group, and support had been shifted to her Republican opponent. The post claimed that Jefferson 'enthusiastically encouraged' the group leaders to meet with the data center developers to hear about their new plan for the Devlin Park data centers.
"We are not settling for just 'better' folks," the post read. "Data centers do not belong on Devlin Tech Park, near residential and homes."
Jefferson called the post "grossly unfair," and said she opposed data centers at the Bristow site.
“I do not think there should be a data center there," she said. "And there are other properties nearby - and those were the wrong votes. I absolutely would not have made those decisions.”
To read more information about Jefferson, visit here.