VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach city councilman said he's ready to make the move from City Hall to the General Assembly.
Aaron Rouse announced Monday that he'd be running for a seat in the Virginia Senate. He's aiming to represent the newly-drawn 22nd District.
Rouse, a former NFL player, has served on the Virginia Beach City Council since 2018.
He sat down to speak with 13News Now anchor Nicole Livas, who is the granddaughter of John Perry, about his decision.
"I want to thank your grandfather John Perry for being the first African-American council member in the city of Virginia Beach. He came along first and opened doors for young like me."
Rouse is the fifth Black council member to hold a seat in the city.
During his time in the role, he helped set up Pharrell Williams' Something in the Water Festival, and helped the council respond to both a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center in 2019, and a chaotic night of shootings at the Oceanfront in March 2021.
He said he wants to be able to help people facing tragedies like that in the future.
"At the local level, I asked the Attorney General at the time, Mark Herring, to come down, and he agreed to come down and meet with the families, but I want to be in the position to insure that those families can have those answers that they don't have to beg to get an independent investigation or a state investigation," he said.
The First Colonial grad explained that he had personal ties to, and hopes for, the 22nd District. He said it's made up of many neighborhoods he already knows well.
"We're talking about Lake Edward, Bayside, communities where I grew up playing basketball, we're talking about College Park," he said.
A key theme with Rouse is: representation matters.
"I think we understand the problems that we're facing because I've lived those problems as well, I understand those problems and those issues," he said.
Rouse said he would complete his term on the city council, which expires at the end of 2022.
We have not learned yet if he will have any opponents.