Ella Ward is clear about the six major issues she will concern herself with if she gets elected to the House of Representatives — job creation, education, protecting Social Security and Medicare, protecting a strong national defense and helping veterans, promoting energy independence and defending women’s ability to obtain an abortion.

A current City Council representative in Chesapeake and also a former Chesapeake School Board member, Ward served eight years on the Virginia Board of Education from 2003 to 2011.

As a retired educator, it’s unsurprising that Ward talks most about her ideas for education.

“We have to have more job readiness skills and industry certification, so that once the jobs are created, young people will be able to get those jobs,” she said. “Everybody is not going to go straight to a four-year college. We have to focus on them more than we have in the past.”

Ward also said she wants to help “get more jobs into the Fourth [District] and into Virginia.”

As for Social Security and Medicare, Ward says, “We need to keep them both solvent. I don’t think we should privatize those.”

Ward said she also aims to protect a strong defense and keep local ships from being moved to other bases. She also wants to work on a program to encourage businesses to hire veterans, and support better systems to prop up veterans when they return home.

She also seeks to help the country “stop our dependence on foreign oil,” but also doesn’t support the “drill, baby, drill” mentality.

“I think we have to rely more on our production here at home,” she said. “We’ve got to start looking at producing natural gas again, and also look at wind energy and solar energy.”

As for abortion, Ward said she believes the “’War on Women’ is very dangerous.”

“I do believe that it’s a health care issue,” she said. “We don’t need to be dictated to about what we cannot or can do with our bodies.”