SPOTLIGHT RACE: JJ Singh for VA-HD26
With his wife Jessica, he is raising their two young daughters right here in Loudoun County.
JJ’s parents arrived from India in 1970, with uncertain job prospects. Studying during the day, and working at night, they both earned multiple post-graduate degrees, then spent their careers serving our country’s veterans in the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
After graduating from the University of Virginia, JJ became the first turbaned Sikh to serve in the US Peace Corps. There, in Oruro, Bolivia, he collaborated with farmers to help them earn more for their harvest and also worked with single, indigent mothers, to provide them microloans to start and grow businesses.
During the Obama Administration, JJ worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget, where he analyzed the federal government’s credit obligations. He then served as the Economic Policy Advisor to Democratic Senator Chris Coons.
Since then, JJ has made an impact in the private sector, first by developing quality, affordable housing, and now he is the President of Retreat Hotels and Resorts. As a part of its mission, Retreat focuses on sustainability in construction, including protecting delicate ecosystems, using alternative sources of energy, and investing in energy efficiency.
JJ proudly serves on the Loudoun County Economic Development Advisory Commission and is the Treasurer of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. He is an elected member of the board of the National Peace Corps Association, a non-profit that serves Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and advocates for Peace Corps funding.
As a father of two young children JJ knows we need strong policies to support our families. Today, parents and young professionals are drowning in student loan debt, facing enormous child care costs and the daunting prospect of paying for their children’s college education.
In Richmond, JJ will fight to make childcare more affordable, preserve our high-quality schools, and reduce our skyrocketing tuition and fees for college students. The cost of tuition and fees at the typical national public university, over the past twenty years, has grown 175%. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s costs are up more than 250%, UVA more than 400% over the same time period. The growth rate of these schools in tuition has been approximately 6% per year. JJ knows this cannot continue.
JJ will fight for every family by growing our economy while keeping our traffic and tolls manageable. He will invest in sustainability, small businesses, and workforce housing so our teachers, EMTs, police officers, and firefighters can afford to live where they work.
As the father of two, it is unacceptable to JJ that the leading cause of death for our kids is gun violence. In the House of Delegates JJ will fight for strong gun safety legislation. 19% of all deaths from the ages of 1 to 18 are caused by gun violence. Among other large, wealthy countries, the US has 46% of the child population, but accounts for 97% of gun deaths.
As fundamental rights and freedoms are being attacked across the county, Virginia remains the last state in the South with access to safe and legal abortion care. JJ is committed to ensuring that his two daughters don’t grow up with less rights than their mother had. In the State House he will proudly vote to codify abortion access into Virginia’s Constitution, and fight back against far-right forces determined to bring us backwards.
https://www.jjsingh.com/