As a native of the area, Michael was raised for most of his life in the West Kempsville portion of Virginia Beach. The son of those who truly understands what it means to serve others, his mother was a career Norfolk public school teacher for 30+ years, and his father was a Captain for the Norfolk International Airport Fire Department. A proud product of the Virginia Beach Public School system, Michael graduated from Tallwood High School and immediately enlisted in the U.S Air Force to pursue a career that would provide him the opportunity to become an innovative leader.
An alumnus of VA Tech, Norfolk State, and UVA, he values and understands the importance of education, both traditional and nontraditional. His military career included overseas deployments as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and being stationed in Guam, where he established the Team Rubicon natural disaster response branch. After 20 years of service in the Air Force, he knew that the best place to retire from the military and start his next phase as a tech entrepreneur was back home in Virginia Beach. With the creation of the new 97th House District, Michael is stepping forward once again to provide a fresh voice and to continue serving the community he loves.
In 2021, Democrats narrowly lost the house by only a handful of votes due to down-ballot roll-off. As a result, the VA house passed numerous bills aimed at discriminating against marginalized groups like our LGBTQ+ neighbors and children, bolstering access to firearms, and reducing reproductive freedom to women and birthing people across the state. Thankfully, their efforts have been stopped by the Democratic majority in the Senate, but have still wasted precious time and taxpayer resources pushing their cultural and ideological agenda instead of addressing the real needs of Virginians. In 2023, we have an opportunity to turn the legislative tides by taking back the House, allowing the VA legislature to take real action to address the concerns of Virginians in 2024 and beyond. We must remind voters of the power they hold and the importance of voting all the way down the ballot in 2023. Additionally, Feggan’s opponent is an advocate for extreme policies that seek to legalize discrimination, stigmatization of our children and the most vulnerable, and restrict the Reproductive Freedom of women and birthing people. While Greenhalgh may be a recognizable name to many, she must not be permitted to push her extreme ideological positions in the House any longer.
Last day to register for primary: June 20, 2023
Deadline to request absentee ballot (primary) June 9, 2023
Date of primary: June 20, 2023
Last day to register for general: November 7, 2023
Deadline to request absentee ballot (general) October 27, 2023
Date of general: November 7, 2023
District 97 is located within the Virginia Beach community, with a demographically and culturally diverse population. The district is considered extremely competitive politically, with Republicans retaining a slight advantage in the most recent Gubernatorial and State House Delegate elections in 2021. Newly established district boundaries have maintained the strong political competition experienced in previous elections. To flip this seat, it will be incredibly important to motivate every Democratic and Progressive voter in the district to get to the polls and vote all the way down the ballot.
Nested Congressional Districts: VA-03, 2021 Cook PVI: D+16, 2022 Cook PVI: D+17
2021 State House District (VAHD85):
Democrat: 49.72%
Republican: 50.17%
2021 Gubernatorial:
Democrat: 48.4% McAuliffe
Republican: 50.6% Younkin
2020 Presidential Election:
Democrat: 51.6% Biden
Republican: 46.2% Trump
2016 Presidential Election:
Democrat: 46.6% Clinton
Republican: 45.9% Trump
Registered Population (as of March 2023): Registered Voters: 63,376
Race:
White: 57.8%
Black: 20.6%
Asian: 7.3%
Multiracial:10.4%
Other: 3.9%
Ethnicity: 9.3% Hispanic or Latino/a
Karen Greenhalgh – Republican
Republican Karen Greenhalgn is the current Delegate for the area, and while she may have name recognition, her true legislative goals are to gut reproductive rights, criminalize medical providers, and legally discriminate against our LGBTQ+ neighbors and children. Greenhalgh is the force behind legislation that would have banned transgender and non-binary students from school teams that correspond with their gender identity. While it passed the Republican-held House, the Democratic majority in the Senate ensured its defeat, protecting children from active discrimination and ostracization.
Karen is also an anti-choice extremist who has pushed to legally require physicians to provide medically unnecessary information about “alternatives” to abortion seekers or face civil penalties. This information aims to manipulate and scare abortion care seekers by mandating medical providers become anti-choice mouthpieces when patients are most vulnerable– a position that many in her own party would not support it. Let’s be clear, informed consent for any medical procedure, including abortion, is already required by Virginia law. More importantly, adoption is NEVER an alternative to abortion. It does not and cannot account for the medical, physical, and emotional needs of those who would endure the pregnancy, birth, and residual trauma that would be experienced.
We have a unique opportunity in Virginia to flip the House and expand the Senate Democratic majority in one election cycle. In 2021, Democrats lost the majority in the House by a total vote difference of 733 votes in the three closest districts.
The new state legislative maps are fair and provide Democrats with key opportunities in open seats and new districts. With recent Democratic wins in special Congressional and state senate elections, we have the momentum to compete in key swing districts that will decide the majority in the House and put us in the position to expand the Senate.
Following action by the Virginia General Assembly, on November 3, 2020, Virginia residents voted to amend the state’s Constitution to authorize the establishment of the Virginia Redistricting Commission. The Commission was established for the sole purpose of developing maps for Virginia’s state legislative districts and districts for the U.S. House of Representatives.
With the 2020 change to Virginia’s Constitution, now the Commission will draw the maps for the General Assembly to approve. If the Commission fails to produce redistricting plans or the General Assembly fails to approve the Commission’s redistricting plans, then districts will be established by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Following the 2020 Census, all House districts were renumbered. This means the current boundaries of districts bear no relation to the previous district by that same numerical designation.
Former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn Endorses in Four Democratic Primaries for the House of Delegates
“I was proud to work with Michael and the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee to flip multiple long-held Republican city council seats in Virginia Beach last year and to elect great candidates to the Virginia Beach School Board. His experience in the Air Force and in business makes him uniquely qualified to represent Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates.” – Eileen Filler-Corn
“I’m excited about meeting the residents of the new 97th House District, tackling the challenging issues at hand through compassionate leadership, and continuing to serve this vibrant community with steadfast commitment” – Feggans
Business notes for the week of June ‘21 – Awards & Honors
Air Force Master Sgt. Michael B. Feggans, deputy chief information officer with the 71st Healthcare Operations Squadron, was accepted to the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, part of the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. The Virginia Beach native was tapped to participate with a select group of 20 professionals from throughout Virginia to gain experience in public policy analysis, ethical public service and the power of bipartisanship.
Checks can be sent to:
Sister District Project
440 North Barranca Avenue, #8737
Covina, California 91723
