Nick Rush, who has served as the seventh district representative to the Virginia House of Delegates since 2011, announced earlier this week in a Facebook post that he will not seek re-election this fall.
Rush represents the New River Valley as the seventh district is composed of Floyd, Montgomery and Pulaski counties.
“It is with great appreciation to the voters of the Seventh House District that I formally announce my decision to not seek re-election this November for the Virginia House of Delegates,” Rush posted. “It has been a true honor and incredible privilege to have served in the General Assembly for the past 10 years, and I will forever be humbled by the trust placed in me to carry out the people’s work.”
He was appointed to the most powerful money committee in the Virginia House of Delegates, the Committee on Appropriations. He also chaired the Higher Education Subcommittee.
Rush represented Southwest Virginia as Vice Chairman of the Major Economic Investment Project Approval Commission and as a member of the Joint Sub-committee to Study Mental Health Services in the 21st Century.
When the Republican Party was the majority party in the House of Delegates, Rush served as the Republican whip.
He looked back upon his time in office with great pride with several accomplishments.
“We strengthened the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia’s economic impact well beyond our regional borders and throughout the entire commonwealth, country, and global arena,” Rush said. “We did this through items like the Tech Talent Investment Program, which is now providing for 31,000 new technology degrees to students attending Virginia Tech and other state universities for the next 10 years; the Jefferson College of Health Sciences merger with Radford University, which has positioned RU to be a top producer of nursing, health, and human services while providing for greater access to continuing and future research, collaboration, and greater educational opportunities for students and other regional stakeholders; and the 10-10-10 Plan, which appropriated millions of dollars to struggling rural public schools in the commonwealth, including many in rural Southwest Virginia.”
