Candidate Profile: Nate Fritzen For VA House District 20 Delegate

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA – Two candidates are running in the special election for Virginia's 20th House of Delegates District. The special election will fill the remainder of the term ending in January 2028. Delegate Michelle Maldonado (D) resigned from the seat in May.

Patch invited each of the candidates to share their backgrounds, priorities and views on issues facing district residents through its candidate questionnaire.

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Nate Fritzen is a longtime political activist working in the Manassas area. His answers to Patch's questions are below.

Name

Nate Fritzen

Party affiliation

Republican Party

Party endorsements

Republican Party

Campaign website

www.Nate4hd20.com

Campaign social media

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61592746527937

Why are you running for this office?

I'm running for State Legislature for two main reasons. I saw the need for a new kind of Republican candidate, one who could bring innovative and people-centric ideas that make a compelling case to the voters of the District, while still advocating the principles of small government and low taxes. And secondly, I'm desperately attempting to try to change the local political conversation to and around the Housing Crisis and the real solutions to solving it, so I may continue to live in the City I call home, because the truth is that I could never afford to live in this fantastic City on my income alone and I want more opportunities for passionate hard-working people, who don't make a lot of money, to continue to reside in our community and eventually operate business of their own in our jurisdictions.

What do constituents tell you is most important to them for the coming term?

The three things folks talk to me about the most are: The personal property tax rates, rising utility rates and housing costs. All three of these topics are centered around the 'Cost-Of-Living Crisis' that's happening in our country. We as individuals and local governments have no control over the cost of food, fuel and rate of inflation. But, what we do control, and what we may stoically try to work on is the physical shape our communities take through the planning and land-use process. Working on how our communities take shape is the best methodology to reducing residents' largest monthly expenses, Housing. This is accomplished by broadening the tax base via 'incremental' growth models and reducing the costs that any one home owner or tax payer spends toward the contribution of services and infrastructure that residents rely on to live comfortable lives. The solution I recommend is increasing density around transportation hubs and where current utility services and transportation infrastructure exist.

What are your day-one priorities, if elected?

My day one priority, if elected, would be to continue reducing the rules and regulations around housing and commercial construction and upzoning. I narrowed down to this single point, because everything concerning the Commonwealth and local municipalities' issues are centered around these land-use policies.

Density around existing transportation and utility infrastructure ought to be our goal and the metric to gauge its effectiveness is tax revenue generated on a per acre basis. In order to maintain quality social and utility services, governments must generate a certain amount of tax revenue in their pre-defined boundaries. They are doing the best they can with the infrastructure and tax bases that they currently have, but they are trapped by rules and regulations that limit growth to specific types of commercial and residential real estate. This ultimately results in all taxpayers paying higher real estate and utility rates in order to replace and repair the aging roads and utility infrastructure, while simultaneously funding the increased demand for social services from residents.

I do not blame our City Councils and County Governments; They were working within a preexisting model of growth that came about after the 2nd World War, when land was plenty and Federal money was bountiful. We as civic and political leaders must acknowledge that this model of growth was ultimately a long-term failure. That the communities we live in could only exist in their current form while the utility and road infrastructure was new, and that once our roads and infrastructure aged and required replacement, that the burden would fall on those who occupied that space.

What are your longer-term goals, if elected?

If the people of the District were to bless me with election and additional terms, I would work to make Virginia the best place to do business, to travel to and live. I would work to make all centers of populations human-centric in design and desirable places to own and operate businesses while being profitable. Doing so, enables us to be financially resilient in economic hard-times and gives us the ability to set aside the wild green spaces for preservation that truly make Virginia a unique place to live and visit. I would work to be a good representative of the people, a champion of the municipal government and a protector of the Commonwealth's ecological diversity.

What about your professional or other background has prepared you for this office?

I have been involved in political and civic life since the age of 17 when I founded a Teenage Republicans club at Osbourn High School, while serving as Student Council Liaison to Manassas Cities' School Board. After high school, I then went to Northern Virginia Community College to study Political Science and founded another Republican Club there, where I would go on to serve at the Congressional District level of Party leadership. So running for State Legislature was something I always aspired to, because I always admired those who served our communities in the political capacity. Their commitment to community, their sacrifice to serve, my inspiration. They were the ones I held up on pedestals as persons to admire and I did everything possible to emulate them, so I did everything in my power to be a productive, educated member of society in order to follow in their footsteps.

I have worn many 'hats' in my professional life working in the private sector. I've been a retail store supervisor, a food-safety certified restaurant supervisor, a salesman of suits, cars and politicians, and now for the second time in my life, a political office seeker. There is nothing special or unique about me that makes me overtly prepared to take this office, because being a State Legislator is difficult work that involves campaigning and fundraising, sacrifice and compromise. But, perhaps that's the very quality we should look for in our State Legislators. People who have worked in our communities on a daily basis in relatively minor roles in direct contact with the public. The people whom are asked to maintain the facilities and serve as the fiduciaries of the business' that employ them. A regular guy, who you can have a beer with and complain about the boss or the spouse. That's who I am. Just a guy, who dreamed of serving his community, but struggles economically despite all efforts to the opposite. I am uniquely qualified in that I'm incredibly average. I work my job and help others who aspire to serve their community. If there was any single quality that I bring to the race and to the office, it's the humility I have, because I used to think I was smart and strong enough to do anything I wanted. I've learned that life is tough and oftentimes unfair.

Aside from winning the election, what has been your most important campaign goal?

I have two important goals for this campaign. The first is, I want to extol the philosophies of the organization 'Strong Towns' by Chuck Mahron. His work in Land-Use policy is the inspiration for this campaign. Following his Strong Towns recommendations will bring housing and commercial rent costs down to where even a humble retail store supervisor, such as myself, can afford to live and operate businesses of our own in the communities we call home. I want people to be able to live close to where they work and play if that is what they wish. I feel strongly that the expansive and expensive suburban growth models are not financially stable in the long run and we shouldn't expect our youths and poor to commute long distances to afford a place of their own for peace and privacy. We should as a State adopt 'incremental' growth models that allow density near transportation and utility infrastructure. The adoption of such policies has the downstream effects of financially resilient municipalities and counties that don't over tax their residents, while also preserving land for green space preservation used for recreation and ecological revival.

And secondly, I want to make a unique and compelling case that the Republican Party is the best political organization suited to solving the issues and concerns of the people in our communities and Commonwealth. That fewer taxes, and fewer regulations are the best way forward to becoming the best place that we can be to live and work in an ecologically sound environment. I know that the Republican Party is the minority political voice in our district and region at this point in time, but I feel strongly that a new Republican Party has arrived, focused on the core issues plaguing our communities and it is ready to tackle the challenges of the present and the future.