The name of Tom Gordy may not be familiar to many residents of Prince William County, but the former congressional chief of staff is attempting to make sure enough people know who he is by Election Day so he can pull an upset of an epic proportion.

Gordy is challenging state Sen. Chuck Colgan (D) for the right to represent the newly drawn 29th state Senate district that stretches from Nokesville in the west toward the eastern part of Woodbridge.

A commissioned Navy Reserve officer who lives in Bristow, Gordy is focusing his race on the economy along with transportation and education.

However, he also has a bone to pick about the make-up of the district itself, said that by voting for the redistricting bill, Colgan was able to "bolster his party" instead of help his constituents.

"I completely disagree with the argument that this is better for Prince William County. It is very clear that the Democratic leadership is trying to concentrate power in Fairfax County at the detriment of the surrounding communities."

Pointing to a map at the Prince William Republican Committee headquarters of the new state Senate districts, Gordy singled out the 29th district’s shape.

"This is (shaped like) Italy," said Gordy. "They carved us up like a Thanksgiving turkey."

Gordy said he supports a non-partisan committee to draw lines for redistricting in the future, though he added that the details of how that committee would come together "would have to be worked out."

The bulk of Gordy’s experience in government comes from his time working in Congress. He has served as a communications director and chief of staff to members of Congress from southeastern Virginia and also as a congressional aide to Army Gen. Ray Odierno.

He works as president of the Armed Forces Marketing Council and owns a log cabin vacation rental business, according to his website.

Gordy said that from working for members of the House of Representatives, he is familiar with how government works with local issues and he cited his year in Richmond as a legislative aide to former U.S. Representative and former state Sen. Ed Shrock (R), who he later worked for in Congress.

When asked how he would be effective as a freshman state senator when replacing the most senior member of the upper chamber who is generally well-lied in Richmond, Gordy replied, "I am an easy guy to get along with. I’m just one of the easiest people in the world to get along with."

During an interview after an earlier rally with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), Gordy laid out a platform and general ideas for several topics but did not offer much in the way of nuts and bolts when it came to how he would implement them.

He said he wants to address taxation of small businesses and offer more incentives for businesses to expand in Virginia.

The same works for offering a "balanced approach" toward regulations that also makes sure consumers "are not being taken advantage of."

Gordy cited his own experience as a businessman as experience in the field and said he would like to set up a small business advisory council within the district to "talk about specific issues" before General Assembly sessions.

One law he wants repealed is a federal statute regarding a 3 percent tax withholding from paychecks that he referred to as an unfunded mandate and a "horrible policy."

However, as a state senator, he would only be able to use his perch as an advocate for repeal as opposed to introducing a law himself.

Locally, he said, "we need good high-paying jobs" in order to build the economy and cut down commute times.

He recalled traveling toward Washington, D.C. for work for so long that "I hated life. It was miserable. I never saw my family."

Creating those jobs involves changing the perception of how Prince William is perceived as a community.

He would like to work with commercial office retailers to find a way to better accommodate small businesses that only need to rent small spaces instead of larger places that are more expensive.

When asked what his first legislative bill would be if he were to be elected, Gordy said he would like to introduce a bill to change the funding formula for transportation.

Northern Virginia is considered a donor region in the commonwealth but efforts since the 1980s to change the formula have languished under regional opposition.

He supports westward expansion of the Virginia Railway Express though said he would defer to the residents of Haymarket about whether they wanted it in their community or not.

On another economic issue, Gordy said, "We need to protect our right-to-work" status, saying that labor unions who back Colgan want to force unionization through "card check," which would eliminate secret ballot voting.

The counter argument to Gordy's claim is that even under Democratic governors during Colgan's era in the state Senate, Virginia has remained a right-to-work state.

That creates the impression that an organized effort to strip Virginia of that status amounts to a political strawman given the reality that it would be anathema to the Republican-controlled House of Delegates to pass such a bill.

"It's not a strawman," Gordy insisted.

On education, Gordy said his focus is on retaining teachers and he mentioned that he would like to work with the School Board regarding school funding.

His campaign website states that he supports "basing teacher pay on performance, retaining more dollars in the classroom where they are most effective and ensuring that our brightest students have access to Virginia’s universities before out-of-state and foreign students."

He also said he supports public-private partnerships, like engaging the private sector for sponsorships where the money will benefit schools.

Gordy said that one area that needs to be addressed is the composition of classrooms given that some elementary students excel at reading while some of their classmates are still learning English as a primary language.

That creates an imbalance for the teachers who then have to figure out how to tailor a lesson plan that fits everyone, he said.

When asked for what sort of specific legislation he would file regarding education, Gordy replied, "I don't have any specific legislative proposals," instead restating his commitment to working with the School Board.

"I don't want to make promises about things that are detrimental to our schools," he said.