Working-class Virginians are hurting, and too many politicians in both parties in Washington have looked the other way. Costs keep rising, healthcare is out of reach, and the powerful profit while working families struggle. I’m running to hold them accountable and build a government that working people can rely on—with affordable healthcare, strong schools, and a fair shot for every child.
Beth is running to give our community the honest, hard-fighting leadership it deserves, but she can’t do it without a grassroots team behind her. If you believe our communities deserve a champion who tells the truth and delivers results, your donation today will help power her campaign.
Beth Macy never planned on entering politics. She grew up poor in a small Ohio town, the first in her family to go to college, and built her adult life in Roanoke, where she and her husband raised two kids on a reporter’s and a teacher’s salary. For 25 years at The Roanoke Times, Beth covered the stories of people and communities across western Virginia, listening without judgment and digging for the truth even when it was uncomfortable.
As a best-selling author, Beth earned national recognition for her deeply reported books about families, work, opportunity, and the forces shaping life in rural America. Her first book, Factory Man, chronicled how globalization reshaped small towns. Her book Dopesick exposed how opioid executives preyed on vulnerable communities and fought to conceal the damage they caused. The book helped shift America’s understanding of addiction and was turned into an Emmy- and Peabody-winning Hulu series she helped produce and write. Her latest book, Paper Girl, continues her lifelong work of telling honest stories about home, struggle, and what it means to build a better future.
Throughout her career, Beth has stood with outsiders and underdogs, and she has seen firsthand how the system has devolved to benefit billionaires over working families. She has listened to parents who lost children to addiction, workers whose jobs disappeared, and communities forced to fight for basic services like child care, health care, and mental health treatment. She has watched families across the 6th District work harder than ever while falling further behind because the people in power have become more beholden to corporations than to the communities that elected them.
Beth is running to make life affordable again for working families, expand access to health and mental health care, invest in rural communities, and ensure every child has a real chance at a better future by rebuilding the ladder that helped her escape poverty.
Ben Cline has made different choices in Washington. He has voted against addiction treatment programs, against efforts to reduce health care costs, and against investments that would strengthen rural communities. He has reliably sided with pharmaceutical companies, billionaire donors, and the extremes of his party—all while families in the 6th District struggle to make ends meet.
Beth has spent her entire career telling the truth and standing up for people who have been overlooked or written off. Now she is ready to bring that same courage, compassion, and determination to Congress and fight for the people of Virginia’s Sixth District.
“Much of our present political divide stems from a simple fact of human nature—people don’t feel listened to. And when they don’t, they often turn against their leaders and each other. I’ve known Beth Macy for a long time and, while all admire her pathbreaking writing, I think she might just be Virginia’s best listener. She hears the stories behind the stories, the people behind the headlines and the communities behind the statistics. I’m thrilled she’s running for Congress and pleased to endorse her.”
“Charles and I heartily endorse Beth Macy’s campaign for Congress. We’ve known her for almost four decades, and she has always uplifted our projects, especially the Harrison Museum of African American Culture. As a former city council member, I am pleased to support someone whose work has always been about supporting communities—ALL communities—in our region.”
“Beth Macy has consistently championed the rights of individuals whose voices have been suppressed. She’s been a staunch advocate for evidence-based treatment in jail/detention centers, which we understand to be beneficial in safeguarding our communities. Now she’s bringing that fight to the halls of Congress, and I’m proud to endorse her candidacy.”
“Beth Macy has spent four decades telling the stories of outsiders and underdogs — from reporting on offshoring jobs to shining a light on the devastating impacts of the opioid crisis.. As Republicans in Washington continue to make life more expensive for Virginia families, Beth is stepping up to lower costs and get things done for the people of Virginia. In Congress, Beth will do what she has always done: promoting opportunity, affordability, and dignity for working families. I’m proud to endorse her candidacy.”
“Beth Macy has been advocating for Roanoke for four decades. She’s the fighter we need to send to Washington to stand up for us—a new voice, one who will fight for all her constituents, not just billionaires. I heartily endorse her campaign.”
