Landes battles to wire in 25th

House District 25 incumbent Steve Landes has amassed seniority, plum committee assignments and little opposition in seven terms representing the district that includes Waynesboro and parts of Albemarle, Augusta and Rockingham counties.

Things are different this time.

Democrat Greg Marrow, a successful Harrisonburg optometrist and onetime Ronald Reagan Republican, has emerged from the shadows to challenge Landes and offer a harsh critique of the Republican as a delegate who lacks energy and someone who has failed to deliver jobs for his House district.

“I feel like our community is suffering,’’ Marrow said during a recent interview.

He said the past decade of Landes’ service has not benefited the Shenandoah Valley and said that Landes has been more of a follower and “a coattail guy.”

The usually low-key Landes has fired back in the weeks since Marrow first went on the attack. He has said his opponent does not understand the nuances of the legislative process in Richmond and that the size of industry Marrow envisions for the Shenandoah Valley is not likely to happen.

“We’ve got to get out of the mindset of the 2,000 and 3,000 employees,’’ Landes said. The economic base has to be diverse, and must attract different types of businesses and from different sectors such as agriculture, he said.

Landes said ultimately, it is not the legislator’s decision to bring industry to a community.

“The legislator can’t direct local governments to go for certain businesses,’’ he said.

Landes also said it’s not a question of “snapping your fingers’’ and something gets done in Richmond.

“Government does not change quickly,’’ he said. “You must fight in the trenches each day.”

Landes said he does his committee work and spends 25 to 35 hours weekly dealing with his job as delegate.

Marrow said he wants to look at the green jobs sector and he believes the Valley’s trained workforce and potential for various green jobs should be explored further.

He said a good starting place would be to take some of the local warehouses and storefronts and renovate using green innovations.

Regarding transportation, Marrow wants VDOT to become a more efficient agency and would like to see efficiency audits of it.

He said prior to audits, transportation should have been better funded in the recent past judging by the number of defective bridges and culverts.

Landes supports regional referendums for transportation in such places as Northern Virginia, and said Virginia’s next governor should look at bonds and perhaps tolls for larger projects.

Marrow said recently that he does not support tax increases, although he said during a debate sponsored by The News Virginian last month that increased taxes could be “on the table” to help bridge the state’s transportation funding gap.

Landes said he has devoted nearly 20 years of his life to public service including stints as an aide to former Del. Pete Giesen and 6th District U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte.

“I still have fire in the belly to accomplish more things and to get added legislation to benefit the area,’’ he said.