LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – Josh Throneburg is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 5th District. Throneburg is facing off against Congressman Bob Good in the upcoming November general election.
Tell me a little about yourself.
“Well, my name is Josh Throneburg, I grew up on a farm in the rural cornfields of Illinois, married to my wife Minhee for almost 20 years. We live in Charlottesville, we have two young daughters who are 13 and seven. Our oldest daughter was adopted from Haiti, she was born just before the earthquake in 2010, youngest daughter a more traditional backstory. And I’m an ordained minister, I’ve spent most of my life pastoring in the church have also run a small business. But right now running for the United States Congress.”
What made you want to run for Congress?
“So I’m a dad, I’ve got two young daughters, and they are walking into a world that has a very uncertain future. Whether we’re talking about climate change, whether we’re talking about racism and sexism, my family does not look like I do, whether we’re talking about our democracy, and just the the way it functions for its people. I think there are a lot of things that we need to work on in order to secure a future that is happy and safe and healthy. And as a dad, that’s what you want for your kids. And that’s really what got me into the race.”
What are some of the things that you would like to do if elected?
“One of the things that’s really important to me, this is a, it’s a pretty big and rural and agricultural district. And I think one of my observations is many of the rural communities in this district have been very overlooked. Small towns have lost jobs, lost factories kind of got hollowed out over time. And I think for me, I want to make sure that we really reinvest in those communities, make sure they have access to broadband Internet, access to health care, access to good schools that are high quality for their kids. So that’s a high priority for me, right now, because we have rising costs, food and gas and all those things, it’s a priority to make sure that we really reduce those costs, or bring them under control so that people in this district can afford those things. So those are some of the more pressing and immediate things I would want.”
Walk me through your position on abortion.
“One of the things that I have just come to the conclusion of is that when there’s a woman who’s pregnant, the person that should make the decision about that pregnancy is that woman. Shouldn’t be her partner, shouldn’t be her boss, shouldn’t be her government, it should be her. And one of the things I say is, that means that we should make sure she has access to the resources she needs to make that decision. And if she’s going to end a pregnancy, she should have access to the health care resources that she needs to do that. But if she wants to keep that pregnancy, she should have access to the resources to do that.”
Explain to me the importance of climate change for you.
“If we just ignore it, if we stick our heads in the sand and say, we’re going to keep burning fuel, burning fuel using gas, we are missing out on so much money. We could build factories in this district, we could produce energy and build the windmills that are going to go off of Virginia Beach, creating great jobs. So there is not only the opportunity to save this planet, for our kids and grandkids, there’s also the opportunity to make huge money.”
Why are you the best choice for this area?
“My understanding of United States government is that people come together, they have an election, and they choose someone that they think we’ll represent them well in Congress, and do their best to create a better world for the folks that they represent. And my my belief is that Mr. Good has not done a good job of that. He has brought back no dollars to the districts, no projects to the districts. He has not sponsored…
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