Annette Hyde

I’m a 20-year yoga teacher living in Madison County. My husband is a descendant of one of the county’s oldest families, pre-Revolutionary War. I also have a family connection to Virginia. My ancestor, Cornelius Cooper, who served as a supplier for North Carolina in the Revolutionary War, was born in Virginia in 1730.

We’ve been residents of Virginia since 1990, when we moved from Dallas, Texas, where I grew up. We settled in Western Fairfax County and sent our two sons to Fairfax County Public Schools. In 2013, we purchased our home and property in Madison. In 2016, we moved here permanently.

After marrying the first time at age 19, I spent over seven years going to college part-time and working either full-time or part-time to receive my Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Public Relations from the University of Texas at Arlington. I’ve been a single mom working and raising a toddler after a divorce. I became a full-time mom after the birth of my second son with my current husband of over 30 years. When my older son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age eight, and like other parents of special needs kids, I fought for his right to the best education possible and the services he needed.

I’m a founding member of our local chapter of Moms Demand Action. I was appointed by the Madison County Board of Supervisors to the Virginia Career Works – Piedmont Workforce Development Board whose mission is to be a proactive partner with employers and economic development leaders by providing a qualified workforce that meets current and future job demand. I’m a member of the State Rehabilitation Council for the Virginia Department of the Blind and Visually Impaired. I volunteer with the Virginia Department of Health’s Medical Reserve Corps. I served weekly at a COVID-19 Call Center last spring and recently, directing traffic at mass vaccination sites in Culpeper.

In 2019, I ran against one of the most powerful Senators in Virginia, Emmett Hanger, because voters in my Senate district hadn’t had a choice in a general election since 2007. Although my fellow rural Democratic challengers and I lost our races, we helped to flip the General Assembly to Democratic control for the first time since 1993. Because of that achievement, the 2020 and 2021 Sessions passed some of the most progressive legislation in a generation. We must expand that majority in the House of Delegates, so Virginia not only doesn’t return to that regressive past, but rural Democrats have seats at the table.

We are not being served by our current Delegate. It’s time to have a representative who cares and works for all constituents instead of using them to further his political ambition. We need a Delegate who believes in government. My life experiences and my love for the people of rural Virginia can make a powerful difference in the General Assembly. Our Commonwealth is built on rural Virginia, and our voices must be heard.

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