We’re two months into 2018, and in that period of 59 days, the Town of Farmville, Prince Edward County and Buckingham County have received visits from U.S. Senator Candidates Tim Kaine and Corey Stewart, and from 5th Congressional District Candidates Leslie Cockburn and Andrew Sneathern.

In November, the first school board election was held in Prince Edward, established in large part due to the involvement of members of our community.

This activity is evidence of the dedication of people in the Heart of Virginia to causes that are important to them.

The 2016 Presidential Election and the upcoming state and local elections have brought to light serious issues that have prompted members of the community to attend meet-and-greet functions, campaign stops and we hope, most importantly, to visit the polls.

Issues voiced by area residents have included questions about candidates’ policies on job creation, taking steps to address the opioid crisis, rising costs of health care and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), immigration, providing the best education for students and resources for teachers, issues relating to the environment and representing the needs of people in Southside Virginia.

The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which took the lives of 17 people, has created serious questions and concerns addressing students’ and teachers’ safety, weapons, particularly automatic rifles, the role of law enforcement and government agencies in safety and weapons regulation and addressing the unimaginable trauma experienced by victims of mass shootings.

Following the activity of state and local political leaders on social media, studying policies on their campaign sites and tracking their donations and spending through sites like OpenSecret. org can provide a lot of insight into the issues that matter most to them.

For members of the House of Delegates and the Senate, activities of the committees they represent and bills that they bring forth can be found on lis. virginia.gov.

Many political representatives welcome input from community members. If they don’t welcome it, make those positions known anyway.

Whatever issues mean most to you, the reader, we need your voice and your participation during this election year.

EMILY HOLLINGSWORTH is a staff reporter for The Farmville Herald and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Her email address is Emily.Hollingsworth@ FarmvilleHerald.com.