VIRGINIA BEACH — Two candidates have stepped up to run for the City Council seat in the newly created District 10.
They are Heidi Daniels, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who is the executive director of the Green Run Homes Association, and Jennifer Rouse, a sociology professor who is married to City Councilmember Aaron Rouse.
Both candidates have filed paperwork to seek the seat, according to the Virginia Beach Department of Voter Registration & Elections.
Aaron Rouse lives within the new District 10 and was elected to a represent an at-large seat on the council. However, he recently announced he will not seek reelection under the new 10-district local voting system. Instead, he will run for a state senate seat scheduled to be on the ballot next year.
Shortly after that decision became public, Jennifer Rouse announced via social media she will run for council. Like Daniels, it is her first run for public office.
Daniels has lived in the Green Run community for 21 years. She served in the Marine Corps, and her husband is a retired Marine. She is a native of Manchester, N.H., who grew up on a dairy farm and enlisted when she was 17.
After four years on active duty, she spent two years as a police officer in South Carolina. She moved to North Carolina, and she served as a reservist and on active duty. Her family moved to Hampton Roads when her husband was transferred, and she worked as a contractor for the Navy before working with community associations.
She now manages the day to day operations in Green Run, a major community that includes 5,000 residences and a number of amenities for its residents. She holds a degree in business administration from St. Leo University, and she is a member of the Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission.
She said her contacts with the city will serve her well on council on important issues such as flooding, and she will foster communication with the public. For example, she said she supports law enforcement while understanding the need to have conversations about community concerns.
“I want to keep taxes as low as possible so the residents have money in their pocket, especially after the pandemic,” she said. “Getting the most for people with their money is really important to me.”
Daniels said her decision to seek office was influenced by the new voting system ordered into effect by a judge. The decision is under appeal, but the system is in effect. Formerly, all city voters selected all members of the council, including representatives of at-large, or citywide, seats and district seats.
Now there are 10 districts, and only people in those districts determine their representation. The mayor, the 11th member of the council, is selected by all city voters.
“I want to be part of a solution,” Daniels said. “I was excited when it went to districts because you can represent the people wholeheartedly. I feel people will believe they really have direct access to their representatives.”
Rouse was born and raised in Virginia Beach. She earned her undergraduate degree from Virginia Wesleyan University and her graduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her graduate studies in sociology included research into issues impacting vulnerable communities in Richmond. She is now an assistant professor of sociology at the Virginia Beach campus of Tidewater Community College, and her teaching about how systems and society intersect has included working local issues into lessons.
“I think there’s something about what I teach that really blends well with the world of governing,” Rouse said.
She said she has had a front-row seat to Aaron Rouse’s political campaign and his term on council. “It also inspired me that that’s something I want to do — or at least want to try — to make decisions that benefit my community.”
Jennifer Rouse said her background as an educator has given her experience speaking with diverse groups of people about complex, difficult issues.
“There is a way to have the conversation,” she said. “I’m hoping my communicative abilities will translate to keep us on task.”
Key issues include strengthening education opportunities, whether for college readiness or preparing people for work, as well as workforce development and affordable housing. She is looking forward to meeting voters and hearing their concerns.
And she, too, said the new district system informed her decision to run for the seat.
“The new district system is what motivated me to run,” Rouse said. “To me, this seems truly representative, that people in their district select their representative. What encourages me about this system is that normal people can get involved. It really could be neighbors representing neighbors.”
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