On Monday, July 30, inside the Salem Ice Cream Parlor on West Main Street that he owns, Joe McNamara announced his candidacy for the 8th District House of Delegates seat:

“If I went back 21 years ago, I stood inside another ice cream parlor that my wife and I had the privilege of starting. I remember that I made an announcement that I was going to run for the Board of Supervisors in the Windsor Hills District. The crowd was pretty small, maybe eight or nine people. While preparing for today, I looked at the talking points I put together for that announcement many years ago, and those talking points were: reigning in government, lowering our taxes and empowering our citizens. The message resonated with the voters of Windsor Hills and it did over many years. We lowered property taxes three times while I was on the Board. The fees and taxes that make it difficult for small business owners like myself to operate, we lowered that. Three out of the last four budgets, we’ve lowered taxes in Roanoke County. We did that by focusing on the core responsibilities of government. Not by funding the wish list. Let’s talk about the 8th District seat. There’s 51 of us and 49 of them. That emphasizes the importance of this seat. We want to start with the momentum we are creating today, and carry it all of the way to the election in November.”