Pollard leaving House

The Northern Neck's delegate won't run for another term in the Virginia General Assembly.

By CHELYEN DAVIS

Date published: 3/2/2005

The Northern Neck's only state delegate is stepping down.

Del. Albert Pollard, D-Lancaster, announced he will not seek re-election to the 99th District seat he first won in 1999.

Pollard said family considerations are behind his decision.

"There's an election every year in Virginia, but my family is only young once," Pollard said. "I've got three things in my life that require a lot of time and energy--my business, my family and the General Assembly. I can't afford to sacrifice the business, and I won't sacrifice my family. Therefore the decision is quite simple."

Pollard, 37, has two children under age 3, and said the amount of time he was spending away from them and his wife wasn't fair to any of them.

"I've got a district the size of Rhode Island that's heavily Republican," Pollard said. "I've got to put food on the table and I've got two kids under the age of 5."

During his three terms in the legislature, Pollard has built a reputation as a moderate Democrat.

He said there seem to be few moderates left.

"My great disappointment is that there seem to be some on the left and some on the right and not many in the middle," Pollard said.

That has led to increasing partisanship in the House of Delegates in particular.

"If the tone in Richmond were different, there would be more regret in my decision," Pollard said.

He has also developed a reputation for being outspoken--in a light-hearted moment at the end of the regular 2004 session, other delegates "honored" Pollard for being one of those who stood to speak the most often.

As a delegate, Pollard has been an advocate for natural resources and the environment, pushing legislation to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and to protect the rights of hunters, crabbers and fishermen.

He also has fought for Virginia to get out of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and in a statement announcing his decision to step down, he cited the increased awareness of that issue as one of his legislative achievements.

"If states and school districts do not continue to directly address the issue and make some very tough choices, then we will simply cede our school systems to the federal bureaucracy. This is not an acceptable option," Pollard said.

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Date published: 3/2/2005