Gwendolyn Wallace Gooditis is an American real estate agent, educator, and politician, known as Wendy Gooditis. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Gooditis was elected in November 2017 to represent

Virginia's 10th House of Delegates district Virginia's 10th House of Delegates district elects one of the 100 members of the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. The district includes portions of Clarke, Frederick, and Loudoun counties. The distr ...

in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

. The 10th district consists of portions of

Loudoun Loudoun ( gd, Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the ...

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

and

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

counties. Gooditis lost her brother to mental illness in 2017, shortly after announcing her House of Delegates campaign. Gooditis has said that this experience strengthened her determination to pass legislation focused on expanding

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

, suicide prevention, and combatting child abuse. Gooditis is vice chair of the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee. She also serves on the Labor & Commerce and Counties, Cities, and Towns committees.

Early life and education

Gooditis grew up in

Cranbury, New Jersey Cranbury is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Located within the Raritan Valley region, Cranbury is roughly equidistant between New York City and Philadelphia in the heart of the state. As of the 2010 United States Ce ...

; she lived in Virginia for 25 years before running for office. Formerly a contractor for

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

, Gooditis became a teacher in the 2000s, teaching in the

Clarke County, Virginia Clarke County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,783. Its county seat is Berryville. Clarke County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistic ...

public schools and at a private school.Chantalle Edmunds
Founder of local Indivisible chapter to challenge Minchew in 10th District
''Loudoun Times-Mirror'' (July 5, 2017). Gooditis then became a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

.Cathleen Decker
With election stakes high, even local Virginia contests draw national volunteers and attention
''Los Angeles Times'' (November 6, 2017). Prior to moving to Virginia, Gooditis was shortlisted for the U.S. Olympic equestrian team as a 3-day eventer.

Political career

Gooditis's successful 2017 run for the 10th district seat in the

was her first run for elected office. She defeated incumbent Republican Randy Minchew, who had held the seat since 2011.

Bills introduced

In 2018, Gooditis introduced House Bill 569, which requires the state to issue an annual report to lawmakers about its progress and activities on suicide prevention. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support and was signed into law in March 2018. In 2019, Gooditis introduced four bills to combat child abuse. Those bills would change Virginia's definition of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

, maintain records of child abuse investigations for three years, make clergy of all religious denominations mandated reporters of child abuse, and penalize those who expose children to domestic violence. In 2019, Gooditis served as Chief Co-patron of a red flag bill that would allow courts to temporarily remove guns from people who pose an immediate risk to themselves or others.

Medicaid

Gooditis voted to pass

expansion in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

in March 2018, expanding health care access to 400,000 Virginians.

Electoral history

Awards and recognition

In August 2019, Gooditis was given the 2019 HosPAC Healthcare Hero award for her efforts in passing

expansion in Virginia, helping more than 400,000 Virginians qualify for coverage.

Personal life

Gooditis lives in

Boyce, Virginia Boyce is a town in Clarke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 749 at the 2020 census, up from 589 at the 2010 census. Geography Boyce is located in western Clarke County at (39.093118, −78.059190), along U.S. Route 340. ...

. She has two children with her husband, Christopher.News — Wendy for Delegate - Delegate Wendy Gooditis
Retrieved May 3, 2018.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooditis, Wendy 1960 births Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Boyce, Virginia People from Cranbury, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Shenandoah University alumni Women state legislators in Virginia 21st-century American educators 21st-century American women educators