When state Sen. Tara Durant was in the Virginia House of Delegates, she recalled Saturday, she was fortunate that her Richmond office was right next to Del. Bobby Orrock’s.
Whenever the brand-new delegate had a question, all she had to do was go next door, and Orrock would say, “Come on in, young lady,” and greet her with a hug and a big smile.
“What a great way to have a good friend like that when you are trying to navigate and get your sea legs and understand how to do this,” Durant told a small crowd at Angela’s Italian Restaurant in Thornburg.
Durant (R-Stafford) was among a group of elected officials and GOP members who came out to support the re-election campaign of Orrock, a Republican who is the longest-serving current delegate.
First elected in 1989, he seeks a 19th two-year term representing the 66th District, which includes parts of Caroline and Spotsylvania counties. He’s being challenged this year by Spotsylvania School Board member Nicole Cole, who held an event Sunday featuring Democratic House Speaker Don Scott.
Orrock is one of the Republicans whom Democrats are targeting, Durant said, and she encouraged the crowd to get behind him.
“He needs a lot of our prayers and our support,” she said.
Del. Phil Scott (R-Spotsylvania) said Orrock also has taught him a lot about service. Orrock has said that no matter how crazy politics gets, the job is not about fighting across the aisle or calling names.
“We’re here to serve our districts, to represent them in Richmond and take what they believe into Richmond and represent their values, represent what’s important to them and continue serving and keep pushing forward,” Scott said.
Orrock, too, mentioned bipartisanship.
“Everything has gotten to the point, it seems, it’s either red or it’s blue. The representation is supposed to be purple,” said the lawmaker, who was wearing a purple dress shirt for the occasion.
In a conversation with the Free Press after the structured part of the gathering, Orrock continued to explain the importance of bipartisanship. He said he’s been frustrated for the past two legislative sessions because Democrats haven’t seemed willing to even talk with Republicans about legislation.
He recalled when the late Democratic Del. Earl Dickinson was in office. Orrock said he could go see Dickinson, close the door and explain how a given piece of legislation had negative impacts.
Dickinson listened, said Orrock, and frequently Democratic lawmakers would assimilate changes to bills. When the Democrats were in the majority, that meant, of course, that they got the credit for the accomplishment.
“But the work got done,” Orrock said.
Earlier in the event, a former GOP delegate from Hampton Roads almost stole the show.
Terrie Suit, who also served as state secretary of veterans affairs and homeland security, presented Orrock with a check for $1,000 for his re-election campaign. Suit, a member of the University of Mary Washington’s board of visitors, retired to Spotsylvania and now is Orrock’s constituent. She said she was initially going to donate $500 but then decided to do more.
“And I would just encourage the rest of you to just dig a little deeper,” she said. “No matter what it is that you can afford, step it up just a little bit, because the quality of life that we will lose, if we lose Bobby, is far more valuable than what you might have written the check for the first time.”
