Green Party candidate Burckard challenges Forbes' seat

SUFFOLK -- Albert P. Burckard Jr., a retired Army officer and teacher and an active volunteer in the Carrollton area of Isle of Wight County, will challenge Randy Forbes for the 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Burckard announced his run against Forbes, a Republican, at the Suffolk Seaboard Train Station on North Main Street to represent his platform, supporting light rail .

Burckard, 61 and a member of the Green Party, said he sees light rail in the state as a public/private consortium similar to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

"I want to convince investors that this is a good idea," he said. "It will be privately funded. I don't want my tax dollars involved."

He acknowledged that challenging Forbes will be an uphill battle .

Burckard retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel. He ran unsuccessfully for the state House of Delegates last year against Bill Barlow of Isle of Wight County, a Democrat who represents the 64th District. That was Burckard's first political race.

He's a native of Norfolk, holds masters degrees from Old Dominion University and the University of Arizona and a bachelors degree from Virginia Military Institute.

After his Army retirement , Burckard taught German at colleges in Portsmouth and Hampton. He also taught at public schools in Newport News and Chesapeake. He contributes a history column to the Observer, a monthly advertising publication produced by The Virginian-Pilot and distributed in Isle of Wight County.