Journalist and author Beth Macy is running for a seat in the U.S. Congress from Virginia as a Democrat, the Roanoke Times reports.
Macy started her career as a journalist at the Times, where she worked for years before publishing her first book, Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local—and Helped Save an American Town. She followed that up two years later with Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South.
Her 2018 book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and later adapted into a Hulu limited series that earned 14 Emmy nominations. Her other books include Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis and, most recently, Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America, published last month by Penguin Press.
Macy told the Times that she had not officially announced a run for Congress but teased an announcement in Roanoke next week. “I can only say that I am seriously considering it, and I will have an announcement. I’m really excited to see folks next Tuesday and talk more about this decision and what has gone into it.”
The Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue has a page for Macy’s campaign, with the following text: “Beth is running for Congress now because she can no longer stand idly by while working people take the brunt of cruel budget cuts while seemingly everything—from groceries to healthcare—becomes more unaffordable. That’s why she’s decided to set aside her pen and turn to creating real change.”
Macy would run in Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Ben Cline, who won his last election with 63% of the vote. Other Democrats vying for the seat include Ken Mitchell, an engineer and farmer who was the 2024 Democratic nominee, and Pete Barlow, a former emergency manager for FEMA.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
