JAHD KHALIL: Delegate-elect Leslie Mehta, thank you for joining us.

LESLIE MEHTA: Absolutely.

JAHD KHALIL: Could you just introduce yourself and tell us about you and your district?

I'm Leslie Mehta, and I am delegate-elect for a portion of Chesterfield, which includes Midlothian and Moseley, Virginia.

I am a lawyer, and I've done a lot of healthcare advocacy and work in a lot of advocacy spaces.

JAHD KHALIL: So in 2023, Del.

Mark Earley won this district with 54% of the vote, and then you won it this year with 52%.

So that's like a six or seven point swing.

Why do you think you won?

LESLIE MEHTA: I think it's because as I talk to people up and down the district about their needs and what they're really looking for, they were looking for someone who cared about things like education and making sure there was good quality education for everyone, irrespective of your zip code.

Making sure that there was an economy that works for everybody, not just millionaires and billionaires.

And making sure that folks have good access to quality healthcare.

And they realized that I was the person for the job, and I think that's why they voted for me.

JAHD KHALIL: You mentioned sort of the people in the district and talking to them.

We were knocking doors in this neighborhood a few months ago, and I remember there was one person in particular that I remember quite vividly, which was he asked which party you were, and he happened to be a Republican, and he wanted to vote for you.

How often were you finding that on the campaign trail?

LESLIE MEHTA: I found that quite often, actually.

As I talked to people, first of all, there are— there's this misconception that there are so many people who are just one way or the other.

I found a lot of folks who were either in the middle or willing, at least, to listen to what I had to say.

They were appreciative of the fact that I've reached across the aisle.

I still am on Gov.

Youngkin's Rare Disease Council, and I've done a lot of work, bipartisan work, in the healthcare space in particular.

And people are tired of that.

They're tired of it being just, you know, you're a D or you're an R. And people were interested in making sure that we were working together to get things done, and I think that they saw that in me.

JAHD KHALIL: So this win was pretty big for the whole Democratic caucus.

What does that mean for what motivates you as a delegate, and what does it mean for the issues that you want to tackle?

LESLIE MEHTA: Well, I said a little bit already about the kinds of issues that I'm interested in tackling, and I, honestly, I don't feel that those are strictly Democratic issues.

Like I said, I've talked to many people in the district that are concerned about those as well.

And I want to be a voice for everyone in the district.

I know that not everyone will agree on every single thing that I do, but I take into account people's opinions.

I am looking forward to talking to folks in the district, not only those who I know definitely agree with me, but those who don't as well.

I think if you have signed up to be a legislator, you have to listen to different opinions and ultimately make your decision then.

I come from a lawyer background, so I like getting all of my evidence together and then ultimately coming to a decision.

JAHD KHALIL: You know, you mentioned healthcare, for example.

Are there things that you want to do to try to make healthcare more affordable for people?

LESLIE MEHTA: A bill that didn't make it to the— past the governor last time around was prescription drug prices and making sure that there's a panel for them to be affordable.

And I'm very much interested in that.

Some of the reasons why I got into this had to do with healthcare and advocacy in that space.

My oldest daughter, who passed away from from a rare disease, when I started fighting for her she, even though she had this big diagnosis, she didn't get Medicaid her first two times.

She was denied.

And I want to make sure that people have access to the full realm of healthcare, and that includes things like making sure that prescription drug prices are affordable.

And that doesn't mean to me, in my mind, it certainly doesn't mean that people are, not the drug companies are not going to innovate and do their research and do all of those things.

We definitely want to do that, particularly as a rare disease mom, I really am adamant about being able to support that.

But people who are getting these drugs need to be able to do that as well as be able to live and not have to make choices about that versus groceries or having a safe environment to live in.

JAHD KHALIL: One of the biggest challenges that legislators are going to face in this legislative session is the budget.

So, on one hand, the changes at the federal level could result in Virginia collecting hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in fewer tax revenues.

But on the other hand, there's, you know, hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars of new costs that the state will have to spend if they want to maintain the same level of services.

Should we be looking for new revenues?

Should we be cutting costs in certain areas?

All of the above?

Where would your preferences lie?

LESLIE MEHTA: We have to look at both.

I think we certainly need to find ways to cut costs if that's possible.

And on the other hand, we need to make sure that millionaires are paying their fair share.

The thing about it for me is that we should not be leaning on the backs too heavily of the middle class in order to get things done.

And I want to make sure that the folks who're coming in, who have been coming in, to Chesterfield and other places, they are willing and interested in coming in without having to be overly burdened by taxes.

But those who can support a little bit more, like the millionaires, they should pay their fair share as well.

JHAD KHALIL: So does that mean, you know, a specific tax on millionaires?

Does it mean restructuring the whole sort of progressiveness of the tax system?

Is that something that goes to businesses?

There's lots of different levers that you can pull on.

LESLIE MEHTA: The devil is going to be in the details, right?

And that's what I'm interested in trying to figure out and getting an opportunity to do that work.

I can't say sitting here right now what exactly the secret sauce is, but I do think that there are ways to be able to figure out that happy medium.

Things like looking into the car tax and, you know, property tax and making sure it's not overburdening individuals who are just trying to make a living.

And thinking of other ways to address it.

But I'm sure that there are some folks who have additional thoughts on that.

And we want to make sure that we're looking at all of that and ultimately making that decision.

JAHD KHALIL: What do you think the biggest challenge facing Virginia is right now?

LESLIE MEHTA: There are a lot of people who are hurting economically right now.

And I think that that is a big issue that needs to be addressed.

There are folks in Virginia who have been furloughed or, you know, lost their jobs and there are others who aren't— are working 40 hours a week, but not making enough to be able to live.

And so, fighting for $15 an hour is important, making sure that people aren't overburdened by taxes, and making sure that people have access to things like affordable housing and healthcare.

All of those things kind of fall under that realm because we want people not only to be able to live, but, you know, enjoy life.

I often tell people that it's great to be able to have a roof over your head and food on the table, that's the first step that we're trying to make.

But we also need to make sure that people get to live a little too.

It should be that people should be able to go to the movies every once in a while or, you know, go out to eat every once in a while.

And one of the things that's so interesting about it is that, for me, is that not only does that help the individual, that helps all of us.

When we're circulating money into the system, and we're contributing to small businesses and all of those things it benefits all of us Virginians.

Delegate-elect, thank you so much.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.