Charles West IV's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Charles West IV has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2021 Political Courage Test.
Virginia State Legislative Election 2021 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| If an organization is shown to exist solely for this purpose, then yes. | |||
| Yes | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| c) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Virginia? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state taxes on businesses as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Virginia? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Virginia? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Virginia? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Virginia high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring instruction on racial discrimintation, social justice, diversity, and inclusion in Virginia public schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing transgender students in Virginia public schools to use the restroom and locker room facilities that match their gender identity? | ||
| State funding should follow students and families should be allowed to choose their place and method of education, this will force more effective public school mgmt. without hurting students in the process. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| No | d) Do you support legislation that increases the punishment for the manufacture, sale, or possession of homemade and unlicensed firearms? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Virginia's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| No | d) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid medical leave? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Virginia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Virginia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by the Virginia state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My priorities include: more widely available school choice for families (the funding should follow the student), term limits in the House of Delegates, body cameras on all officers in Virginia, restricting corporate political donations, and ensuring there is no new ABC created for cannabis. The government and the officials in it need to work for the people and no other masters! | |||
| My top priority if elected, is to restructure education funding in such a way that families are allotted funding (dependent on factors like age and possible special needs) and given the option to refund that money and send the kids to public school, or put it towards tuition/materials elsewhere. This would put the public schools in a position where they must improve or lose funding, without hurting the kids to do it. |
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