Amy Laufer

Sen. Bryce Reeves

On Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m., Republican incumbent Sen. Bryce Reeves will share the podium with Democrat Amy Laufer in the race for the District 17 seat in the Virginia Senate. The 17th District Senate Debate will be held in Monroe Hall, Room 116, on UMW’s Fredericksburg Campus.

A military veteran and insurance company owner, Reeves is co-chair of the Military and Veterans Caucus, serves on the Secure Commonwealth Panel and is the Senate representative on the Virginia Military Advisory Council to the Governor. Laufer is a former middle-school teacher and Peace Corps volunteer who served seven years on the Charlottesville City School Board. She launched Virginia’s List, an organization that supports Democratic women running for state office.

District 17 includes Fredericksburg, all of Orange County, and parts of Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Albemarle and Louisa counties, and stretches to the suburbs of Charlottesville.

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies, will serve as moderator and a panelist at each debate. The other panelists will be Ted Schubel, news director of News Talk 1230/WFVA and WBQB radio, and Editorial Page Editor Barbara Hollingsworth of The Free Lance-Star. Written questions from the audience can be submitted in person shortly before the start of each debate.

The debates are co-sponsored by UMW’s College Republicans, Young Democrats and the Legislative Action Committee of the Student Government Association, as well as The Free Lance–Star, the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Fredericksburg Area League of Women Voters.