Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins said today (Jan. 22) that she will not seek re-election this year.
The announcement came shortly after 11:30 a.m. during the Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Her planned retirement adds to list of supervisors who have also said they are leaving.
Hudgins, who is nearing the end of her fifth term, was first elected to the board in 1999.
Her colleagues on the board took to Twitter shortly after the announcement to share the news and praise her work.
Chairman Sharon Bulova, who announced her plans to retire in December, tweeted that Hudgins “will be sincerely missed when she retires from the Board at the end of 2019.”
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity posted — and then deleted — a tweet saying, “At today’s Board meeting, Supervisor Cathy Hudgins has announced that she will not seek re-election. It was a pleasure serving with her and I wish her the best on her future endeavors.” A few minutes later, he wrote, “At today’s Board meeting, Supervisor Cathy Hudgins has announced that she will not seek re-election.”
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who was the chairman before Bulova, tweeted that Hudgins has been a “tireless advocate for the Hunter Mill District,” pointing to her work on affordable housing.
Thank you to Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins on her decades of service to Fairfax County. She will be sincerely missed when she retires from the Board at the end of 2019.
— Sharon Bulova (@SharonBulova) January 22, 2019
Cathy Hudgins has been a trainblazer and an advocate for Hunter Mill District and Reston for many years. We wish her the best in her retirement and look forward to great things for the rest of the year!!! https://t.co/DMNiSbDKDm
— Bill Bouie (@bbouie) January 22, 2019
Supervisor Cathy Hudgins has been a tireless advocate for the Hunter Mill District. She’s been a champion for affordable housing and has dedicated her career to making sure every voice is heard in our community. I'm proud to call her a friend and wish her well in her retirement.
— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) January 22, 2019
Two Democratic candidates have already joined the race for her seat, Reston Now previously reported.
Shyamali Hauth, a United States Air Force veteran and community advocate, has her campaign focused on transportation, affordable housing, construction practices, budgets, security and education systems. Parker Messick, a recent graduate of Roanoke College, is running on a platform to “stop big development.”
The election for the county’s Board of Supervisors will take place on Nov. 5.
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Nearly one month away from the special election for the 86th District seat, the Fairfax County Republican Committee will hold a meeting on Saturday (Jan. 19) to nominate a candidate.
Yesterday (Jan. 14), the committee put a call for a mass meeting to nominate a Republican candidate for the now-State Sen. Jennifer Boysko’s vacated seat, which represents parts of Fairfax County and Loudoun County.
The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Fairfax Christian School at 22870 Pacific Blvd in Dulles with a start time of 9 a.m. Only Republicans in the 86th District can participate in the mass meeting, according to the website.
Candidates have until 9 a.m. on Friday (Jan. 18) to provide a written statement of intent to Committee Chairman Amanda Morris.
The special election is set for Feb. 19.
On Saturday (Jan. 12), Ibraheem Samirah was nominated to represent the Democratic Party.
Voters have an upcoming special general election for the 86th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
On Saturday (Jan. 12), Ibraheem Samirah was nominated to represent the Democratic Party to fill State Sen. Jennifer Boysko’s vacated seat.
Samirah will run in the special election set for Feb. 19 with a campaign focused on healthcare, transportation and education.
“I am deeply humbled that voters chose me to be their democratic nominee to represent them in the House of Delegates,” Samirah said in a press release. “I entered this race to fight for the progressive values we all share–such as affordable healthcare, decreased transportation costs and improved early-childhood education.”
Samirah is a first-generation Muslim American who is the son of Palestinian refugees. He was separated from his father in middle school when his father was barred from re-entering the U.S.
He is currently a dentist at District Smiles.
He faced three other Democratic candidates — Kofi Annan, Mike O’Reilly and Chad Thompson — for the nomination and won with a little more than 35 percent of the vote. More than 2,000 people voted in the primary.
“Ibraheem will be a tireless and effective advocate for Fairfax and Loudoun counties, and we look forward to having him join our caucus and help us make Virginia better for everyone,” House Democratic Caucus Executive Director Trevor Southerland said in a statement.
Boysko also congratulated Samirah, saying she pledges her support to work with him in the Virginia General Assembly.
“I know Ibraheem will continue the great work we have done in working to reduce gun violence, supporting our schools and teachers, and building an economy that works for everyone,” she said in a statement.
Local Republicans have not announced plans to nominate a candidate, according to the Loudoun Times-Mirror.
Photo via Samirah for Delegate/Facebook
The Virginia House of Delegates has an opening for a seat that represents Herndon.
Del. Jennifer Boysko, a Democrat currently representing the 86th District, won the special election yesterday (Jan. 8) to take over the 33rd District seat in the State Senate vacated by Jennifer Wexton when she became a Congresswoman.
Boysko won with just under 70 percent of the vote, while her opponent, Republican Joe May, received about 30 percent. With Boysko moving to the State Senate, voters will get choose who will fill her district seat, which includes Herndon.
Several Democratic candidates announced they will vie for the seat, including:
- Chad Thompson — a public affairs consultant who lives in Herndon
- Kofi Annan — the president of the Fairfax County NAACP
- Ibraheem Samirah — a dentist at District Smiles who is a first-generation Muslim American
- Mike O’Reilly — a former Herndon mayor who is now a lawyer and the owner of the O’Reilly Law Firm
The Democratic candidates will vie for the spot at the primary on Saturday (Jan. 12).
Herndon residents who are registered voters in the 86th District can vote between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Dranesville Elementary School (1515 Powells Tavern Place).
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Polls open for the special election — Voters will decide today who will replace Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton for the 33rd District seat in the State Senate. Democrat Del. Jennifer Boysko, currently representing the 86th District, is running against Republican Joe May, who represented the 33rd District as an Independent delegate from 1994 to 2014. [Virginia Department of Elections]
Bollywood dance class — Get in shape with a fitness class from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Reston Regional Library. [Reston Regional Library]
“Invisible Listeners” exhibit ends — Today is the last day to see Rahshia Sawyer’s photography at the Greater Reston Arts Center at Signature before it closes. [Greater Reston Arts Center]
But a new exhibit opens — The “Three Moves to Divine” exhibit opens today at ArtSpace Herndon to provide a photographic memory of Ghana by Randy Preston, along with written and read work from guest poets. [ArtSpace Herndon]
Candidates interested in running for one of the five spots in the Reston Association’s 2019 Board of Directors election can attend an informational session tomorrow.
The session for prospective candidates will be at RA’s headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive)Â at 7 p.m. on Thursday (Jan. 3).
The open seats in 2019 are the following:
- At-Large for a three-year term
- Apartment Owners for a one-year term
- Hunters Woods/Dogwood for a one-year term
- North Point seat for a three-year term
- Lake Anne/Tall Oaks seat for a three-year term
The one-year terms are due to prior mid-term resignations and the appointment of interim replacements in 2018.
Candidates must be RA members, and residents seeking a district seat must live in that district.
The Reston Association Elections Committee wants interested members to fill out a candidacy statement form and return it by 5 p.m. on Jan. 25. The committee will then validate candidates by the end of the month.
The month-long election begins on March 4, with the election results unveiled at the Annual Members’ Meeting in April.
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Timothy Chapman, the managing member of Reston-based Chapman Development LLC, entered the race to become the next chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
On Dec. 6, Chairman Sharon Bulova revealed her plans to retire after her term ends Dec. 31, 2019. That same day, Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay, a Democrat, announced his intention to succeed her, the Fairfax County Times reported.
Now, Chapman has joined the race to become the county’s next chair with a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec. 18) indicating that he plans to run as a Democrat.
Chapman wrote in the post that he wants to offer an “alternative path” to bring changes to one of the country’s wealthiest counties.
“[The county] has settled for effectively ignoring a crisis in affordable housing, sending its children to school in trailers, for not paying our teachers and firefighters and police officers what they deserve, and for the horrific traffic that imprisons us in our cars and steals away precious moments with our children and families,” he wrote.
The post also says the following:
As far as my political views, through the years I have voted for and donated to Democrats, Independents and Republicans. Now, I am so disgusted by today’s out of the mainstream Trum-publicans that I realize the only successful path forward is the compassion of a strongly progressive Democratic platform. It’s essential that we fight for the little guy against often rigged politics which seem to benefit the wealthy and well connected, while leaving those hard working families who are the backbone of Fairfax County to struggle to make the everyday choices that many of us take for granted.
My own life experiences have taught me to have an overwhelming, unwavering compassion for the less fortunate. I know what it feels like to be judged rather than understood, to experience the pain, fear and anxiety of being homeless. But I have also enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, an inherent privilege which afforded me the opportunity for a second chance and another second chance. Without question, I have worked hard for every step forward I have accomplished, and I own every step backwards I have caused myself, but to ignore or deny this privilege would be like denying climate change. I am living proof that with grit and determination, one, if provided the opportunity, can overcome obstacles and succeed beyond their wildest dreams. I now live in Vienna with my wife and our 5 children. I’ve built a successful affordable housing development company. I chaired the Virginia Housing Development Authority at the request of Governor McAuliffe.
Records from the Virginia Public Access Project show that Chapman has indeed donated to politicians from both sides of the aisle. He gave $50,000 last year to Democrat Tom Perriello and $15,000 in 2013 to Republican Kenneth Cuccinelli for both men’s unsuccessful gubernatorial campaigns.
Other donations include $15,000 to Ralph Northam’s gubernatorial campaign and then $25,000 to Northam’s 2018 inaugural committee.
Back in 2005, he gave $4,000 to Republican Sean Connaughton’s unsuccessful bid to become the state’s lieutenant governor.
His Chapman Development bio says he has “an extensive background in multi-family development and tax-credit communities” and that he served in the 3rd U.S. Infantry’s Presidential Honor Guard.
Previously, Chapman chaired the Virginia Housing and Development Authority, according to a Bloomberg profile.
The upcoming election for the county’s Board of Supervisors will take place on Nov. 5, 2019.
Photos via Fairfax County/Facebook and Tim Chapman/LinkedIn
The special election on Jan. 8 will determine who will replace the State Senate seat of Congresswoman-elect Jennifer Wexton.
Democrat Del. Jennifer Boysko, who currently represents the 86th District, will face former state Del. Joe May, a Republican who is the chairman of the board and chief technology officer for Leesburg-based tech firm EIT.
The deadline to register to vote is 5 p.m. in person and 11:59 p.m. online on Jan. 2. For locals who want to absentee vote via mail, the registration deadline is 5 p.m. on Jan. 2. Absentee ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on Jan. 8.
Absentee voting in person will take place on Saturday, Jan. 5, at the Herndon Fortnightly Library (786 Center Street) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If Fairfax County Government Offices close due to inclement weather, absentee voting will get canceled.
Herndon residents can vote on election day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
Voters located in Herndon’s first precinct, which stretches from Park Ave and Elden Street to Grant Street, will vote at Herndon Elementary School (630 Dranesville Road).
Voters in the second precinct, which is west of Elden Street and between Monaghan Drive and Park Ave, vote at the Herndon Community Center (814 Ferndale Ave).
Herndon Middle School (901 Locust Street) is the polling place for voters in the third precinct, which is southeast of Elden Street and above the Dulles Access Road.
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Parker Messick is running on a platform to “stop big development” to unseat Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins.
Messick, a Democrat, announced his campaign on Sunday (Dec. 16).
Messick told Reston Now that he wants to stop big development in Reston and Vienna, which “is on track to make Reston look more like Tysons or Arlington.”
“Reston was always meant to be a planned mixed-use community per the vision of Robert E. Simon, Reston’s founder,” Messick wrote in an email. “Despite this vision, developers have desired to build endless new high rises, with even more on the way, if they are allowed to continue.”
He added that while Reston was meant to have some big development, it “was always meant to be relegated to the Reston Town Center.”
Controversial paid parking is another top priority for him. Messick said he would negotiate with Boston Properties, the owners of Reston Town Center, to end the paid parking there.
“I agree with Boston Properties that people should not be able to use their parking for free simply as a way to avoid metro parking, but the approach that has been taken has caused many people to avoid RTC altogether and has harshly hurt the businesses located there,” he said.
Other major issues he wants to address include:
- alleviating traffic congestion
- increasing affordable housing
- allocating available funds to improve the county’s public school system
- preventing pollution and protecting the environment
He is a recent graduate of Roanoke College, where he studied political science. His website says he has a “background in the facilitation of political campaigns” and “experience engaging with the local community through volunteering and being receptive to the community’s voices.”
Hudgins, who is nearing the end of her fifth term, was first elected to the board in 1999.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will include a few new faces in 2020, with the recent announcement of Chairman Sharon Bulova’s upcoming retirement adding to the list of the supervisors leaving.
The election for the county’s Board of Supervisors will take place on Nov. 5, 2019.
Photo via Parker Messick for Supervisor
(Updated at 3:54 p.m.) Former Herndon Mayor Mike O’Reilly announced on Friday (Dec. 14) that he will vie for the Virginia House of Delegates seat representing the 86th District, which includes Herndon.
Del. Jennifer Boysko, who currently holds the seat, plans to run for the State Senate seat to replace Congresswoman-elect Jennifer Wexton in the special election on Jan. 8.
“I am running for the House of Delegates to fight for more affordable healthcare, more funding for education and transportation in Northern Virginia, protection of women’s rights, protection from gun violence and to protect the environment,” O’Reilly said in a press release.
O’Reilly was elected Mayor of Herndon in 2004. As mayor, he helped reduce the tax rate, opened a new police station, opened the Senior Center at Herndon Harbor House and completed a rewrite of Herndon’s zoning ordinance.
He is currently a lawyer and the owner and principal of the O’Reilly Law Firm at 761 Monroe Street in Herndon and a member of the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
O’Reilly, who has lived in Herndon for more than 35 years, is married and has four children.
O’Reilly served five years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority, where he negotiated the design, financing and construction of the first phase for the Silver Line project and the procurement and contract award for the second phase.
He chaired for ten years the Governing Board of the Fairfax Falls Church Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness and also chaired the Board for Arts Herndon.
He faces three other Democratic candidates — Chad Thompson, Kofi Annan and Ibraheem Samirah — for the spot at the Jan. 12 primary.
Photo via Michael O’Reilly
Chad Thompson, a public affairs consultant who lives in Herndon, announced today (Dec. 11) that he will vie for the Virginia House of Delegates seat representing the 86th District, which includes Herndon.
Del. Jennifer Boysko, who currently represents the 86th District, announced last month plans to run for the State Senate seat to replace Congresswoman-elect Jennifer Wexton. The special election for that seat will take place on Jan. 8.
Thompson and his wife Elizabeth, a pre-school teacher at Floris United Methodist Church, live in the Floris community of Herndon with their four kids, aged 8 to 12.
Thompson points to education, transportation and the environment as a few of the reasons why he decided to seek the Democratic nomination in the Firehouse Primary.
“I got into this race because as a parent I care about the type of community we build for our children,” Thompson said in a press release. “Investing in our children, finding real transportation solutions and building Virginia’s renewable energy future are the foundation for growing our community and our economy.”
Currently, the senior director at Five Corners Strategies, a D.C.-based grassroots advocacy firm, Thompson advises companies in the real estate, waste and energy sectors on public affairs issues.
Thompson faces other Democratic contenders for the seat, including Kofi Annan and Ibraheem Samirah.
Annan, who has lived in Herndon since 2012 with his wife and two teenage sons, is the president of the Fairfax County NAACP.
Annan and his wife started a rental property business in 2009 and founded the Veteran Career Counseling Services LLC, which remained in operation from 2012 to late 2018, to help more than 700 veterans find employment after transitioning out of the military, according to a fundraising page.
Samirah is a first-generation Muslim American who is the son of Palestinian refugees. He was separated from his father in middle school when his father was barred from re-entering the U.S., according to his campaign website.
Samirah is currently a dentist at District Smiles, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The general election will be held on Nov. 5, 2019.
Photos via Chad Thompson campaign, Samirah for Delegate/Facebook and crowdpac.com.Â
Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova announced today (Dec. 6) her plans to retire after her term ends Dec. 31, 2019. Her departure adds to the list of supervisors who have also decided to retire.
Supervisors Linda Smyth, for the Providence District, and John Cook, for the Braddock District, recently said that they won’t seek reelection.
Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay plans to run for the top seat, as well as Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, who faces a Democratic challenger for his district seat, The Washington Post reported. The upcoming election for the county’s Board of Supervisors will take place on Nov. 5, 2019.
Bulova, who hits the 10-year mark in February for leading the board, joined the board in 1988 as the Braddock District Supervisor.
The announcement arrived in her monthly newsletter. In one section, she wrote:
Local government is an awesome place to be. It’s the level of government closest to the people you represent. It’s the place where you can truly make a tangible difference, touch lives, and engage with the community in a personal, positive way. Deciding when to stop is just as hard as making the decision to start down the road of elective office. For me, however, that time has come.
When questioned by Tony Olivo of the Washington Post about my plans for running, I told him I was going to use the Thanksgiving holiday to think about it, and to talk to my family and friends. On Thanksgiving Day my son David arrived for dinner equipped with a large flip chart and colored stickies for voting. He titled the Chart “Family Decision Making Matrix” and separated it into “Pros” and “Cons.” It was a fun, light-hearted after dinner activity. Many of the items listed on the “Pro” side of the chart were some of the reasons that had already persuaded me to not seek another four-year term. More time with family and grandchildren, time for travel, to entertain, to smell the roses. It has been an honor to serve the Fairfax County community on the Board of Supervisors. During these past thirty years, I have been privileged to work alongside dedicated elected officials at every level of government, with talented, caring county staff and a county full of enthusiastic community volunteers. While I will not be running for re-election in 2019 I sure do have a lot to look back on with satisfaction.
Congress members representing Virginia have applauded Bulova’s leadership style and accomplishments.
“As former mayor to a city of 200,000 people, I have enormous respect for Sharon Bulova’s leadership of a county of 1.1 million,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a statement. “Over the past 30 years, Fairfax County’s population has grown by nearly half, and Sharon’s service during that time has played a major role in ensuring the prosperity and quality of life accompanying that growth.”
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who was the chairman before Bulova, said in a statement that Bulova “is a true community treasure,” whose time on the board will be remembered for decency and commitment to improving Fairfax County.
“Under her leadership, she turned the idea of the Virginia Railway Express into a reality,” Connolly said. “As Chairman, she guided the county through the worst of the Great Recession, while still maintaining the critical investments and services that Fairfax residents have come to expect.”
Reston Now reached out to Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins for a comment and has not heard back.
Pat Hynes, the Hunter Mill District representative for Fairfax County Public Schools, board supervisors and Eileen Filler-Corn, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Fairfax County, took to Twitter this afternoon:
It’s been a privilege to serve on the school board during Sharon Bulova’s county bd chairmanship. A humble servant of the community, seeking input, investing in the long view, knowing that in local govt, today’s adversaries may be tomorrow’s allies. A model for future leaders. https://t.co/uxPzeugEC8
— Pat Hynes (@VotePatHynes) December 6, 2018
Congratulations to Supervisor Linda Smyth (Providence District) on announcing her retirement at today’s Board meeting. Thank you for your years of dedication and service to Fairfax County.
— Supervisor Pat Herrity (@PatHerrity) December 4, 2018
.@SharonBulova is a great example of collaborative leadership. No one has been better at pulling together disparate views and finding consensus on difficult issues. 2/3
— John Cook (@JohnCookVA) December 6, 2018
We didn’t always agree, but @SharonBulova was a fair leader who gave everyone a fair shot. Can’t ask for more from a Board Chair. The people of @fairfaxcounty have been well served. 3/3
— John Cook (@JohnCookVA) December 6, 2018
Thank you Chairman @SharonBulova for your tireless work, first as Braddock Supervisor and then as Chairman of the @fairfaxcounty Board of Supervisors. You have been an incredible advocate for our county and an incredible mentor to me and so many women and men. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/etFn46MB54
— Eileen Filler-Corn (@EFillerCorn) December 6, 2018
Photo via Fairfax County. Second photo via Evan Michio Cantwell.
Reston Community Center has issued a call for candidates to run for seats on the Board of Governors, a nine-member body that oversees RCC.
Candidates for one of three open positions with three-year terms must complete candidacy filings by 5 p.m. on August 15 (Wednesday).
Each year, candidates are selected through a community preference poll with votes cast by residents and businesses located in Small District 5, a geographical area that broadly applies to Reston zip codes.
Online and mail-in balloting and walk-in voting will run from September 7 through September 29 until 5 p.m. Mail-in ballots must be received before 5 p.m. on September 27.
The Board of Governors establishes RCC policies, sets priorities for programs and makes decisions about the budget. The body was established by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which will appoint board members based on votes cast.
Photo via Reston Community Center
The Reston Citizens Association is seeking candidates for the eight open district and at-large seats for its 13 member Board of Directors.
That’s over 60 percent of the total board.
Four At-Large Director seats are up for grabs, each for a three-year term.
The Town Center/Lake Anne/Tall Oaks District Director position is open for a three-year term and the South Lakes District Director seat is up for a two-year term.
Two open North Point Director positions are also seeking candidates, with one- and two-year terms respectively .
To run in the election from June 7-22, Reston residents are required to file candidate forms by May 30.
A press release from the RCA stated that “to run for a director seat, you must live in Small Tax District 5, be a Reston resident 18 years or older, and vote in designated precincts/polling places within Reston districts.’
Applications are available online and must be emailed by May 30 to [email protected].
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Four people will have their names on the ballot for an August election to fill an At-Large vacancy on the Fairfax County School Board.
Challengers for the seat include Chris S. Grisafe, supported by the Fairfax County Republican Committee; and Karen A. Keys-Gamarra, supported by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. Sandra D. Allen and Michael H. Owens will also be on the ballot.
Jeannette Hough, who was elected to the Board in 2015, stepped down from the position effective June 1. The term will run through the end of December 2019.
Prospective voters must be registered by Aug. 15 to be eligible to vote in the Aug. 29 election.
