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Amy Laufer

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Amy Laufer
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 55th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 10, 2024
Preceded byBuddy Fowler (redistricting)
Charlottesville City School Board
In office
2012–2019
Personal details
BornMay 13
Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAaron Laufer
Children3
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (BS)
Columbia University Teachers College (MA)

Amy Josephine Laufer (born May 13) is an American Democrat from Virginia. She was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in the 2023 Virginia House of Delegates election from the Virginia's 55th House District.[1][2][3]

Early life

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Laufer, one of eight children, grew up on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin. She became the first in her family to attend college, and she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, earning a bachelor's degree in geology. She then joined the Peace Corps, teaching elementary school in a rural town in Jamaica. Following the Peace Corps, she attended Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City, graduating with a master's degree in secondary science education.[4]

Career

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Laufer is a former school teacher, having taught at Louisa County Middle School and Tandem Friends School in Charlottesville. In 2011, she was elected to the Charlottesville School Board, and was re-elected in 2015.[5][6] Laufer served as Board Chair from 2015-2016.[7][8] In January 2019, Laufer resigned from the school board due to purchasing a home outside of Charlottesville City.[9][10] Laufer ran for the Charlottesville City Council in 2017, but was defeated in the general election.[11][12] During 2022, Laufer briefly served as the Chair of the Albemarle County Democrats until June.[4]

In 2014, she founded Virginia's List, a political group supporting Democratic women running for office.

Campaign for Virginia State Senate

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Laufer in Virginia's 17th Senate district, which stretched from Fredericksburg to the suburbs of Charlottesville in Albemarle County, and included all of Orange County and portions of Culpepper, Louisa and Spotsylvania counties.[13] Laufer's primary opponent was Ben Hixon, former chairman of the Democratic Party of Culpeper, whom she defeated handily. She narrowly lost the general election to Republican incumbent Bryce Reeves, by three percentage points.[14]

County and independent city results
  Reeves
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Laufer
  •   60–70%
2019 Virginia Senate election, District 17[15]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bryce Reeves (incumbent) 6,325 82.3
Republican Rich Breeden 1,359 17.7
Total votes 7,685 100
Democratic Amy Laufer 6,042 78.2
Democratic Ben Hixon 1,679 21.7
Total votes 7,722 100
General election
Republican Bryce Reeves (incumbent) 34,494 51.6
Democratic Amy Laufer 32,176 48.1
Total votes 66,878 100
Republican hold

Campaign for Virginia House of Delegates

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In July 2022, Laufer announced her candidacy for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in the newly formed 55th District.[16] The 55th was created in the 2021 redistricting process and has no incumbent.[17] Her opponent in the Democratic race is Kellen Squire, an ER nurse at the University of Virginia Hospital. The winner of the primary will face Republican Reid Wernig.[18] On June 21, Laufer won her primary against Squire by a nearly 70-30% margin.[19]

Abortion statements against Squire

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Laufer criticized her opponent in the Democratic primary, Kellen Squire, for his past statements on abortion when he ran against Rob Bell in 2017.[20] In late May 2023, Laufer sent out campaign mailers quoting Squire as being "fervently and unabashedly pro-life". Squire responded that his statements were taken out of context, and that Laufer's use of his statements did not reflect the full intent. Squire works as an ER nurse and provides abortions.[21] Laufer's campaign stood by their usage of Squire's statement.[22]

Personal and family

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Laufer lives in Albemarle County with her husband Aaron and their three children, Hannah, Adam, and Henry.[8] One of Laufer's children attended Clark Elementary School in Charlottesville.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Amy Laufer". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  2. ^ "Amy Laufer Campaign website". lauferfordelegate.com. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  3. ^ "Thanks to everyone who braved the weather and made this such a special day!". Twitter. May 13, 2023. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  4. ^ a b Curtis, Andrew (2022-06-27). "Amy Laufer". lauferfordelegate.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  5. ^ "Virginia Elections Database » 2011 School Board General Election Charlottesville City". Virginia Elections Database. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  6. ^ "Virginia Elections Database » 2015 School Board General Election Charlottesville City". Virginia Elections Database. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  7. ^ "Board Members - Charlottesville City Schools". 2015-08-08. Archived from the original on 2015-08-08. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  8. ^ a b "Board Members - Charlottesville City Schools". 2016-05-04. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  9. ^ "MINUTES SCHOOL BOARD MEETING CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY SCHOOLS" (PDF). charlottesvillepublic.ic-board.com. January 10, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  10. ^ "Board Members | Charlottesville City Schools". 2019-02-16. Archived from the original on 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  11. ^ "vpap.org". The Virginia Public Access Project. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  12. ^ "Amy Laufer running for City Council". NewsRadio WINA. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  13. ^ WTVR News, Richmond, Virginia, June 11, 2019, retrieved October 6, 2019
  14. ^ Ballotpedia. retrieved November 23, 2021
  15. ^ "Virginia State Senate District 17". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  16. ^ Knott, Katherine (2022-07-17). "Laufer formally announces run, leads Dems in fundraising for state's 55th House district". The Daily Progress. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  17. ^ "2021 Redistricting - 55th District". The Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  18. ^ "Reid Wernig". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  19. ^ "Election Results". enr.elections.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  20. ^ Shuler, Sydney (2023-05-30). "'You can't trust him': Laufer campaign hits Squire for 'pro-life' comments". The Daily Progress. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  21. ^ "Folks, hope everyone is having an amazing Memorial Day weekend. As I was knocking doors today, I heard some lies had been circulating about our campaign, so I wanted to take a moment to address them directly". Twitter. May 30, 2023. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  22. ^ Taylor, Felicity (May 30, 2023). "Democratic candidates in HD-55 address weekend flyers". www.cbs19news.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  23. ^ "MINUTES MEETING OF THE SCHOOL BOARD CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY SCHOOLS" (PDF). charlottesvillepublic.ic-board.com. January 5, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
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