VMI Grad Pledges To Turn Protests Into Policy If Elected Governor

WOODBRIDGE, VA — Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy has spent her entire career in public service since graduating from Virginia Military Institute and getting her law degree, whether it has been working as a public defender, being a foster mother, or representing Prince William and Stafford counties in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Carroll Foy, who announced her candidacy for Virginia governor in May, promises to remain a public servant, not a servant of corporate interests, if elected in November 2021 to succeed Ralph Northam, a fellow Democrat, as governor of Virginia.

"As governor of the commonwealth of Virginia, I will continue to advocate for underserved and marginalized communities and people everywhere to ensure that I improve everyone’s quality of life," Carroll Foy said in an interview with Patch. "I won’t put corporate interests above people's interests. I will always put the people first."

Foy said she would prioritize improving education and health care across the state as governor. "I won't just be fighting for things that are symbolic but things that are substantive," she said.

Over the past month-and-half since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the nation has been witnessing a racial reckoning in communities across the nation, Carroll Foy noted. "People had to pay attention and watch as a man lost his life for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That is something you can’t unsee," she said.

As a state lawmaker and possible future governor, Carroll Foy said she will continue to push for major changes, like overhauling the criminal justice system, that people are fighting for in the streets.

Police civilian review boards, with subpoena power, must be established in every jurisdiction of the state, she said.

Raised by her grandmother who instilled in her the value of service to the community, Carroll Foy, 38, graduated from Petersburg High School. Carroll Foy earned a full scholarship to VMI, where she was part of the third class of female cadets to attend the historically all-male college. She met her husband Jeff at VMI. They became friends and married years later. They have twin boys, Alex and Xander, and live in Woodbridge.

Working as a public defender and adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College, Carroll Foy won reelection last November to her second term, representing Virginia's 2nd district in the House of Delegates.

In her bid for the Democratic nomination for governor, Carroll Foy currently leads in fundraising among Democrats who have formally announced their intent to run, with $810,790 raised from January through June. She is followed by state Sen. Jennifer McClellan of Richmond, has who raised $490,374.

Carroll Foy said that even before controversies over his college yearbooks almost led to his resignation from office, Gov. Northam proposed one of the most progressive budgets in Virginia history.

The yearbook controversies, according to Carroll Foy, only "heightened his awareness of race and reconciliation." Northam, who graduated from VMI in 1981, has "put forth a huge effort to remedy and rectify things like the misinformation taught in our textbooks in schools about the sins of our past in Virginia and across the country," she added.

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Carroll Foy appreciates how Northam has put an emphasis on helping Virginia's Latinx and African American communities, which have seen higher mortality and contraction rates for the coronavirus. "I appreciate his willingness to reach out and to concentrate a lot of his efforts on those populations," she said.

As a state lawmaker, Carroll Foy said she views her job as translating the protests that are still occurring across the nation into policies.

"That’s how I protest — by passing bills that will improve everyone’s quality of life," she said, "whether that’s fixing our criminal justice system, improving Medicaid, making our education system more safe and equitable across the board, or bringing diverse, high-paying jobs to the commonwealth."