How One Socialist Lawmaker Is Trying to Change His State’s Pro-Business Policies

By Farah Stockman
Jan. 16, 2019

MANASSAS, Va. — When the state of Virginia recently struck a deal with American chip maker Micron to expand in Manassas, both Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, and the local mayor, Hal Parrish, a Republican, attended a ceremony celebrating the news.

But not Lee Carter, the self-described socialist who represents this Virginia suburb in the state’s House of Delegates.

Instead, he blasted the deal on social media as “corrupt,” noting that it gave the well-off company $70 million in government grants to create 1,100 jobs.

“Micron doesn’t need the money,” Mr. Carter said in an interview, of one of the largest employers in his district. “We could have used it for something else.”

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But Mr. Carter, who won an unexpected victory in 2017 against a Republican who served as majority whip, has already served a year in office. And his tenure gives a glimpse of what happens when a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America is elected to office.

Virginia politics has never before seen someone quite like Mr. Carter. In a state where Democrats and Republicans alike boast of being pro-business, Mr. Carter has waged a lonely battle against companies that seek funding from the public coffers, in addition to tax breaks, in exchange for bringing more business to Virginia.

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