Danica Roem (D-13th) is the Democratic candidate for the 30th Senate District in Manassas Park, Virginia. This district includes western Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, making Roem the first woman, the first person of color, and only the second Democrat to hold this position in Virginia's history. Democrats have a number of priorities in Manassas Park, VA. Topping their list is passing stricter laws to prevent potentially dangerous people from accessing firearms and allowing firearms to be banned in more public places, such as government buildings, parks, and at events like rallies and political protests.
In higher education, Democrats have achieved one of their top goals: free community college for low- and middle-income students. They have also established a series of new civil rights protections, making it easier to file discrimination lawsuits of all kinds in state courts with the Virginia Securities Act and explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations. Democrats have been divided over electric utility reform for the past two years. Many members of the House of Representatives joined a group of Republicans to push for changes to the state code that would return much of the authority of Virginia's public utility regulators, the State Corporation Commission, to regulate rates and revenues. However, some members of the more progressive wing of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives unsuccessfully pressured their colleagues to go further, criticizing the Clean Economy Act for not moving fast enough and blaming house leaders for blocking consideration of a Virginia version of the Green New Deal. Campaign finance reform has also been a priority for Democrats in Manassas Park.
Several attempts to curb Virginia's open campaign finance system by limiting contribution amounts or limiting corporate donations have yielded no results in the Democrat-led legislature. Terry McAuliffe, a prolific Democratic fund-raiser, said his father taught him that “money in politics is neither good nor bad”.Manassas and Manassas Park will come together in a new 20th House of Delegates district, a new 30th senatorial district in Virginia and a reconfigured 10th congressional district. After leaving federal service, Paul became an active volunteer for the Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee.