Dems Hope for a Doctor in the House

While America’s spotlight casts its incendiary glare upon COVID-19, healthcare, and racial injustice, Dr. Cameron Webb, a 37-year-old doctor, lawyer, and family man stands tall at the intersection of Health and Social Justice. He believes he has the expertise and vision to fight for all people as the Democratic nominee for Congress in Virginia’s 5th District.

 On November 3, Doctor Webb takes on Republican Bob Good, a former athletics director at Liberty University, a private Christian school. Good ousted Rep. Denver Riggleman for the GOP nomination.

 With November’s election, he said health care, education and the “urgent need to act on the science of climate change” are on the ballot, and he said this election is about responding “to our crisis — our global health pandemic and our national crisis of racial injustice.”

 His platform has become elevated in the Trump era, which has coincided with an uptick of police brutality against Blacks, proliferation of hate groups, and healthcare inequities among the poor and people of color.

 “As an African American in our society, there are so many things that are harder for me,” said Doctor Webb. “We’re focusing on the movement for Black lives and the Black and Brown individuals dying at the hands of COVID and law enforcement. This is the moment to fight for justice no matter who you are and where you are.”

With messages like that, Webb won a decisive victory in the Democratic primary in June when he beat three rivals, earned an impressive two-thirds of the vote winning every county, and garnered endorsements from Sen. Kamala Harris, and Representatives Jim Clyburn, John Lewis, and Hakeem Jeffries, among others.

 Democrats and pundits alike believe the 5th District that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016 is now seeing a political shift that could award Webb an historic place in the US Congress. No Democrat has won the seat in more than a decade. And, if Webb defeats his Trump-supporting Republican opponent in November, he will be the first black physician to vote in Congress.

 Webb resides in Albemarle County with his wife, Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb, who is an ER doctor who grew up in Appomattox County.

They have two children, Avery and Lennox.

 The doctor worked on President Barak Obama’s White House Healthcare Team and continued at the start of the Trump administration, helping to increase access to affordable care and make insurance companies accountable for quality coverage. He was later appointed by Gov. Ralph Northam to Virginia’s Board of Medical Assistance Services—the board with oversight of Virginia’s Medicaid Program. In addition to his duties as a general internist, he serves as the Director of Health Policy and Equity for the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia, where he teaches and leads research.

 But, the doctor feels it is still not enough. “My patients are still suffering, and there is more I need to do to help them,” he said. “I didn’t run to make history — I am running because too many families can’t afford to refill a life-saving prescription and can’t afford a single surprise medical bill. I am running because I treat patients and families who have been let down by both our failing healthcare system and by the Republicans who continue to disregard the critical need for true access to care for everyone. I’m running to try to create the kind of change that I know from experience that families in my district need.”

 Statistics show rural Americans, like those in Nelson County and much of the 5th District, are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than their urban counterparts. And now the COVID pandemic, which disproportionally affects Black and rural populations, has magnified the urgency to reform our healthcare system nationally. Record unemployment causing people to lose their health insurance has made matters even more critical.

 “This virus has laid bare inequities our society has faced for decades,” the doctor declared.

 “Many students in rural areas lack the access to broadband internet to allow them to continue learning online while schools are closed. Tens of thousands of residents of this district who were already food insecure face an even bigger challenge as the suddenly increased demand has lines for food banks stretching endlessly. Issues with housing affordability for individuals and families make it harder to physically isolate for some who are most at-risk for the most severe health outcomes in this pandemic,” Webb added.

 Citing that the pandemic created the most critical moment we’ve seen in this country for reforming our healthcare system, Doctor Webb believes “that the Affordable Care Act was a good start, but we have a long way to go before we deliver quality coverage for all Americans,” he said. Webb believes in establishing a public health insurance option—offering comprehensive healthcare benefits to anyone who wishes to choose it but allowing others to keep private insurance if they chose.” 

 Progressives have criticized Webb for being too centrist, and moderates say he’s too progressive. Webb just wants to make it clear that he is first and foremost, a scientist. “I’m where the evidence is,” the doctor said.

 Webb feels Virginia Democrats have a strong ticket for November with himself, Sen. Mark Warner and former Vice President Joe Biden on it. “Biden has the persuasion; Warner will drive out the base; and I hope to expand the electorate,” he said. 

 “I urge everyone in the district to reach out to all communities and increase diversity in getting out the vote.” He even suggested connecting to Riggleman supporters to “hear what they have to say and invite them into our space.” A huge turnout is needed to flip the 5th.

 He also added, “each of us needs to cool down the rhetoric” and keep positively advocating for our issues.

How to help and learn more: https://www.drcameronwebb.com