We recently invited the candidates running for local office in the Nov. 3 General Election to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Shelly Arnoldi, who is running for House of Representatives 8th District.

Residents of Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, my name is Shelly Arnoldi, and I am asking for your vote for the United States House of Representatives.

I am not a career politician. I am a Navy veteran, a licensed professional engineer, a wife, and a mom who has raised four children in Northern Virginia. I served ten years as a Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer, then spent years managing major facilities and construction work for the military, Department of Defense schools, the Smithsonian, and the National Gallery of Art. I know how large organizations spend money, miss deadlines, and hide problems behind process. That experience is exactly why I am running.

Arlington is one of the most educated, hardworking communities in the country. Families here pay some of the highest costs in America for housing, childcare, and daily life, and too many still feel unheard in Washington. Our district has been represented for years by the same approach: more spending, more bureaucracy, and less accountability to the people who live here. I am running because government has drifted away from the people it is supposed to serve.

If you send me to Congress, parental rights will be a first priority. Parents, not distant agencies or interest groups, should be at the center of decisions about their children’s education. Schools should teach the fundamentals well, be transparent with families, and respect the values of the households that pay the bills. I watched school closures, mandates, and the erosion of parental authority up close. Arlington families deserve a representative who will defend their right to know what is happening in the classroom and to speak without being dismissed.

I will also fight the cost of living. Cutting waste, taxes, and red tape is not a slogan for me. It is how an engineer looks at a broken system. Small businesses in Arlington should not be buried under rules written for someone else’s convenience. Data centers and other large users should carry the real cost of the energy and water they consume, instead of shifting those burdens onto working families. I want a district where young people can afford to stay, seniors are not priced out, and opportunity is not reserved for those already connected.

Accountability is the third promise. I have signed the U.S. Term Limits pledge, and I will keep it. Congress should be served by citizen legislators, not a permanent political class. Budgets should be readable. Special interests should not outrank constituents. I will stand with first responders, support safe neighborhoods, and insist that immigration laws be enforced so citizens and legal residents come first.

I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution as a naval officer. I still mean it. Civil liberties, medical freedom, and limits on government power are not partisan accessories. They are the reason this country works when it works.

Arlington does not need another vote for the status quo. It needs a neighbor who has managed real projects, raised a family here, and will answer to you instead of to a party machine. On November 3, I ask you to vote Shelly Arnoldi for Congress.