Roanoke's Del. Sam Rasoul, a lifelong problem solver, focuses on Democrats' rural woes [View all]

COUNCIL — There weren’t many people gathered at the auto body shop to see Sam Rasoul.

Southwest Virginia is deep red, and so it’s rare these days to see Democrats elected to higher offices venturing out this way. The people who showed up figured this would probably be the only time a Democrat running for statewide office would make an appearance in Buchanan County.

“They tell me there aren’t a ton of votes out here, but they are strong votes,” said Rasoul, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

The war veterans and retired workers seated in the chairs are lifelong Democrats — for heaven’s sake, one man in the audience was named Franklin Delano Sykes — and they have felt largely abandoned by the party that has focused its energy on turning out votes in populous areas running from Northern Virginia to Richmond and Hampton Roads.

Read more: https://roanoke.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/roanokes-del-sam-rasoul-a-lifelong-problem-solver-focuses-on-democrats-rural-woes/article_aea93e0a-a85b-11eb-a43d-a7474b205149.html