by Shawn Nowlin
Marcus Huffman, a 30-year-old Virginia Tech Political Science graduate and current youth worker for the Roanoke Valley Juvenile Detention Center, has announced his plans to run as a Democratic nominee for Roanoke City Council.
A moderate gathering of family members, local residents and friends were present at the Ramada Inn Conference Center on Franklin Road for Huffman’s announcement that was covered by multiple local media outlets.
The conference lasted an hour through which Huffman directly stated his intentions and later took questions. “I feel that the time to run is right now because there are going to be a lot of changes in Roanoke City government,” he said referring to the local municipal climate in the foreseeable future.
“Make no mistake about it our city council is going to look very different in July than it does now.”
Among the things that local constituents look for in their elected officials include authenticity and a willingness to go the extra mile. Huffman used his platform to address those topics and much more.
“Accountability is important because I feel that citizens in the community feel that the council is disjointed. A lot of people feel like they don’t have control over situations like the school system because our school board is an appointed body and not an elected body,” He added, “I’m asking an entirely new voter base to get involved in politics and no one in recent history has stepped up to do that.”
Huffman says that before voters make a definitive decision they should gather as much information as they can on all of the candidates. “I’m not asking people to come out and vote for me just because of my race or personality. This is not a popularity contest,” he said. “I want people to invite me to their meetings, to their Bible studies, to their social events…I want people to invite me to places where I can get to know them.”
It takes a team to run a successful campaign and Marcus says, “I’ve been assembling a team of dedicated volunteers.” He added, “I’m asking for a ‘5, 5, 5’ campaign. Basically I’m asking people to take five minutes to go on my website and learn about me. I’m asking people to make a minimum $5.00 campaign donation and take five minutes on February 13 and May 3 to come out to the polls and vote for me.”
For more information on Marcus Huffman contact any of the following: citizensformarcus.com (website), Facebook.com/CitizensforMarcus (social media), Twitter.com/MarcusEHuffman (social media), 540.761.1587 (cell) and marcus@citizensformarcus.com (email).
