Mayor Brian Vincent of Farmville, VA was endorsed by Forward for re-election. Why? Read the message below from the Mayor – then volunteer to help him and other great Virginia candidates. 

In Farmville, like the rest of America, history walks alongside us.  In 1951, sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns led her classmates out of Robert Russa Moton High School to protest conditions that were separate and decidedly not equal.  Their case became part of Brown v. Board of Education and changed public education in this country. Prince Edward County later closed its schools rather than integrate, and a generation of children paid the price. I serve alongside Vice Mayor Reid, a member of that Locked-Out Generation, who has been a mentor and friend to me. Last year I stood with him in the U.S. Capitol as a statue of Barbara Johns was dedicated as one of Virginia's two in Statuary Hall.

From the close of the Civil War to the start of the Civil Rights movement, the moral arc of history runs through Farmville. It reminds me that a community's character comes down to whether we see the dignity in each other, even when it's inconvenient.

That's why the Forward Party pledge to treat everyone with respect and dignity matters to me. It's not about going along to get along. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, we need decent people to be strong and strong people to be decent. It's a commitment to being mindful of how power is used, and for whom.

In a town of 8,000, I don't get to govern in the abstract. 

The people who disagree with me will see me at the grocery store the day after a council meeting, at my daughter's basketball game, or on the sidewalk downtown. Small towns make obvious what national and state politics often forget: your neighbor isn't your enemy. 

Differences abound in a town of 8,000, a commonwealth of 8 million, and a country of more than 330 million. The work is building something together through those differences. "My way or the highway" is how extreme politicians pave the road with authoritarian intentions.  For eight years, first on council and now as mayor, I've tried to govern with that philosophy in my heart. I believe decency is strength, and that self-government begins with self-governance. That means holding ourselves, our community, our commonwealth, and our country to a standard. I believe in us.

If that resonates with you, join me. Sign up to volunteer on Election Day, and let's make decency viral. America was founded on the principle of independence, and it's time our politics remembered it.

Brian Vincent

You can see why we think Mayor Vincent embodies what a public servant should be. Virginia and American need many more like him. Join us to make that happen and to be sure Mayor Vincent can continue his excellent work.