Ninth District Congressional candidate Joy Powers was in Cleveland last Thursday for the first of several town hall meetings she plans to have across the region.
Powers said one of the reasons she held her first town hall meeting here was because it was in Russell County that she made up her mind to run for Congress.
A farmer from Bedford, Powers said she was considering becoming a candidate when she brought a truckload of supplies to Dante last year after the community suffered catastrophic flooding.
“My dad told someone I was thinking about running against Morgan Griffith,” Powers said. “The man turned around and said, ‘Can I hug you?’”
Following her opening remarks, Powers spent over an hour answering nearly two dozen questions by those in attendance.
The proposed data center that could be coming to the former Moss 3 site was a main topic of discussion.
Powers said data centers were being built with better safeguards in foreign countries than in the United States. She said nations, such as Finland, require 100 percent clean energy and data center companies have followed those strict regulations.
When asked about reports that data centers have a deadly effect on livestock, she said she has not reviewed such studies. Powers said she would like to see a moratorium on data centers until better safeguards are in place. “We’ve stopped four data centers in Virginia this year,” she added.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle need to focus on rural health care, Powers said. Referring to Ballad Health’s control of the local health care industry she said, “How did we even get here? Who thought that was a good idea?”
She said she was recently in Damascus and a town councilman gave her a stack of papers that were lawsuits filed by Ballad against residents who could not afford to pay their bills.
Powers said the solution was universal healthcare but she does not see that becoming a reality during the presidency of Donald Trump.
As the health care industry is transitioning to telehealth, Powers said it is vital that rural areas have internet access. She alleged that one of Griffith’s top donors is a home health group from New York that would benefit financially from telehealth.
“AI (artificial intelligence) is a great tool for doctors but it should never replace doctors,” Powers said.
On matters of immigration, Powers said ICE is not a constitutional agency. She said ICE overruling the local sheriff’s office is a “blasphemous thing.”
She said while Republicans seem to be against immigrants, “They don’t have a problem marrying them,” she joked.
When asked about her stance on abortion, Powers said, “I do not think politicians belong in health care.” She said she has talked to many women who cannot afford to raise a child and thus abortion is an option.
While most of Powers’ are standard Democratic, she did break from Governor Abigail Spanberger’s stance on gun control. When asked if she supports Spanberger’s gun bills she said, “No. I have my own gun thank you very much.” She did, however, say universal background checks are a must, even at gun shows.
When asked if she would vote against Trump’s agenda 100 percent of the time, Powers said she would not. While making it clear that she is no fan of the president, Powers said if a Republican backed bill would benefit the Ninth District, she would have an obligation to vote for it.
