JAHD KHALIL: Why should Democrats pick you to be their nominee for lieutenant governor?

VICTOR SALGADO: I'm a former federal prosecutor, I've dedicated my entire career to fighting corruption, prosecuting campaign finance violations at the federal level.

And, obviously, when Donald Trump was elected, reelected last November, I couldn't stay at DOJ.

So I knew that I had to find a new job.

And the question then became: do I go to a law firm, do I go to a company to make money?

Which would have meant that I would have stayed out of this fight.

And when you're at DOJ, where I was, you see things, you know things, you can anticipate things.

And staying out of this fight, the fight that we're in right now, just wasn't the right thing.

It wasn't the right thing for me to do.

JAHD KHALIL: So you were a prosecutor.

You talked about working on campaign finance issues.

Are there types of corruption that you think are present in Virginia?

And how would you approach those?

VICTOR SALGADO: Given the times that we're living in somebody who understands Washington, who knows Trumpism, is a requirement for the lieutenant governor's office.

That is why I jumped into this race, that's the value proposition of my campaign.

Had Kamala Harris won last November, I wouldn't be sitting here with you.

This is what I've been preparing for my entire career.

You know, respectfully, I would never do eye surgery like Dr. Lateef, or teach American literature like Ghazala Hashmi, much less try to tackle 300 pound men, like Aaron Rouse.

Those are their professions, this is what I do.

This is my specialization.

And that's why I'm running, because these other times - these times call for a type of candidate with my attributes.

JAHD KHALIL: So can you talk a bit about how the, like, official powers of lieutenant governor would be able to do the things that you're talking about?

VICTOR SALGADO: Right, so you know, typically, folks have described the lieutenant governor's office as a ceremonial position or a waiting room or a stepping stone for something else.

And folks have certainly approached it that way.

We have candidates in this race who are approaching it that way.

You know, they have higher ambitions.

I'm not doing it - I'm not doing that.

The lieutenant governor, as you know, is also president of the Senate.

They have a tiebreaking role.

The president of the Senate has a position, has the ability to say if you want your pet project bills to pass they better not than that land on my desk, unless you're willing to promote these initiatives.

Thats how the lieutenant governor can weigh in to the discussion.

That's how the lieutenant governor can drive priorities - legislative priorities, and that's what I'm going to do.

You know, on day one I'm going to tell the delegates and the senators in Virginia your pet projects better not land on my desk for a tie breaking vote unless we pass campaign finance reform, because I will not vote, I will withhold that vote.

And your legislation will never get to the governor's desk.

JAHD KHALIL: So it's almost like they have to count on your - your vote?

VICTOR SALGADO: Absolutely.

VICTOR SALGADO: It's a little, you know, heavy heanded, but that's what these times call for, you know?

For campaign finance reform, for example, it's going to take a lot of political will and political might to get it done.

And I bring - I am committed to doing that.

And I'll take a similar approach to - to a - to a initiative that I want passed right away, which is, taking the ability away from Donald Trump to commandeer and deputize our law enforcement resources for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws in the streets of Virginia.

So, you know, the lieutenant governor office has power.

People usually have under-utilized that power and influence.

Now is not the time to be shy about it.

And I am not running for office to be a showhorse lieutenant governor.

I'm running for office to be a workhorse lieutenant governor.

JAHD KHALIL: What else do you think is important for people to know about your campaign or you - your experience when voters are going to the polls?

VICTOR SALGADO: What I've been hearing on the trail is that folks, either are not tuned in to this race, and if they're tuned in, you know, they're having a hard time, figuring out who they want to support because the narrative has formed that we stand for the same things, that there are no differentiators among us.

That's just not true.

In my case, you know, we might agree on what needs to be done, that's push back on Trump, protect Virginia.

Why we need to do it?

Because we're Democrats, we believe in bringing everybody into the promise of America.

What sets me apart is the how, right?

I bring a unique set of skills.

I understand the Constitution in a way that the other candidates don't.

And that's exactly what we're going to need in the next three and a half years as we protect Virginia's sovereignty from an ever increasing federal policies of overreach that we're seeing from Donald Trump.

You know, it's this interplay between federal and state power.

I've been thinking about these issues for over a decade and that's something that once again, I bring to the table, uniquely, as opposed to my opponents.