Editor,

Many readers have seen the signs begin to pop up around their neighborhoods. White ink on a blue background, bearing the words “re-elect Don Beyer.” I see these iconic yard signs every two years in the fall, and my family has a dedicated spot for ours in our corner yard. Only this year, they’re a little different, as they now include an addition: “June 21, 2022,” the date of this year’s Democratic primary.

For the first time since Congressman Jim Moran retired in 2014, voters this year will have the opportunity to choose which Democrat we want to represent the 8th Congressional District on the other side of the Potomac. The choice is clear, and I’ll be enthusiastically supporting Don Beyer. For the last eight years, he’s represented the interests of our community in the United States Congress, and for the four years before that, he represented the interests of the United States as our Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. When he was Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, he worked with Republicans and Democrats alike to pass legislation to uplift all Virginians, and that’s the same kind of devotion and work ethic that he’s taken to Washington.

Beyer has been a leader on such sensitive issues as suicide prevention, where he fought with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the move to designate 9-8-8 as the National Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Hotline. As Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, he’s been fighting to renew the Child Tax Credit, which 119,000 children across the district were eligible for in 2021. On every major issue—gun control, climate change, reproductive freedom, healthcare, voting rights, you name it—Don Beyer has been the progressive leader we need to represent us all.

When endorsing candidates, the Falls Church News-Press editorial board has always followed a general rule to “support incumbents when they are doing a good job.” Don Beyer is doing a good job, we ought to send him back to Congress.

Matthew Savage
Falls Church