Third Candidate Joins F.C. Senate Race

Democrat-run House. “With this awful election coming up, everyone is terrified about what may happen,” both a reference to the tenuous majority the Democrats hold in the Senate and the challenge many legislators, including both Kory and Marsden, face running in newly drawn districts.

School Board Campaign Kick-Off

Attended By Political “who’s who.”

At the re-election campaign kick-off for Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch (D-Providence), a Who’s Who of elected officials showed up to show support, including several school board members, State Senators and Delegates, Fairfax County Supervisors, and U.S. Congressman Gerry Connolly. Also in attendance were Saddam Salim and Erika Yalowitz, two hopeful candidates for Falls Church’s new Senate District, making more notable the absence of “incumbent” candidate for the seat and sitting State Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax).

President Heckled at State of the Union Address

During President Biden’s State of the Union Address Wednesday night, despite reports that U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) asked his Caucus to respect the instutution, several members heckled the President, most notably Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), who was seen cupping her hands to heckle the President in a conspicuous white fur coat. Unconfirmed sources claim that, though appearing quite gleeful at the time, she was later furious to learn that all 101 stolen puppies had escaped from her home during the speech.

Continued from Page 3 his class and recipient of the John Morris Athletic Scholarship. During his senior year his mother’s health suffered, eventually needing surgery, causing him to change his post-secondary plans and stay local, opting to attend Northern Virginia Community College and then George Mason University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration Degree in 2012, and ultimately a Masters Degree in Public Administration.

Salim has been involved in state and local politics for several years. He has served as Providence District Co-Chair and Finance Vice Chair for Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC), Vice President of Fairfax Young Democrats, and currently serves as second Vice Chair of the 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee.

During his career, Salim has held multiple financial consulting jobs, including at PenFed Credit Union, Kearney and Company, and the United States Institute of Peace. He currently works as a Senior Consultant for 11th Hour Service, where he advises Federal clients.

Salim says he believes in public service because he’s seen the real effects of social programs, affordable housing, education and healthcare — and the support of the local community — his whole life. “The City of Falls Church and Fairfax County helped my family service and supported me throughout my education and career.” he said, “Today, I want to give back and serve that community as a new kind of leader that focuses on Virginia’s future and the issues that matter.”

Both Yalowitz and Salim will find a formidable opponent in Petersen, whose deep-pocket donors have allowed him to raise $527,163 for his Senate campaign and $114,965 for his PAC, Fairfax Commonsense. The organization’s website states its purpose to “support responsible, Main Street candidates for office in Fairfax County.”

So one contribution has been made by the entity — to U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger, whose district does not include Fairfax County. Petersen is the sole legislator featured on the PAC’s website, which also features Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid.

Petersen’s well-funded campaigns have raised just under $3.5 million dollars since 2007, which was the last year Petersen’s seat was contested (in the primary or general elections) — that year, the Petersen for Senate campaign spent $676,780 compared to Republican opponent Gerarda Culipher’s $71,185.

Despite having no opponents the last two cycles, Petersen’s campaign spent over one million dollars — more than most Senate campaigns spend even with strong challengers in play. The Petersen campaign currently has raised $723,082 for the upcoming election — from 1,068 individual and corporate donors including Amazon, Comcast, and several contractors — an average donation of $670.

Petersen, a Fairfax City native who graduated from Fairfax High School in 1986 and received his law degree from UVA in 1994, currently represents the 34th Senate District of Virginia, which includes central and western Fairfax County, reaching as far out as Centreville and Chantilly.

The new 37th Senate District, which Petersen hopes to represent, now includes the entire City of Falls Church, more of Tysons, and less of the western portion of the County. As a result, the new district leans farther left, with a 7.2 percent stronger turnout for McAuliffe in the 2021 Governor’s race.

Perhaps most central to Petersen’s story is his strong relationship with Fairfax schools. His 2001 “Put Woodson First” campaign helped him oust incumbent Delegate Jack Rust (R-Fairfax), who had served as Delegate for multiple terms beginning in 1979. Students at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax fueled much of his initial campaign, calling voters from multiple phones hooked up in Petersen’s Fairfax residence, his wife pregnant with their first child.

The campaign regularly makes community goodwill contributions, largely to Fairfax schools, with Petersen for Senate having already directed $25,000 in such contributions since being elected Senator in 2008. Beginning last fall, the campaign began donating cycles to schools through sponsorships or in the new district last fall.

Petersen, who is completing his fourth term, is famously the most conservative Democrat in the Virginia Senate: in 2021 he voted with the Caucus only 67 percent of the time, most vocally with regard to ending mask mandates in schools (in January 2022, when the Omicron variant first emerged).

During the 2021 Legislative

Session, Petersen voted or sided against school boards on several occasions — perhaps most prominently when he demanded, after Fairfax County Public Schools (and all other local school districts) vowed to defy Gov. Youngkin’s executive order for schools to open without requiring masks, that FCPS immediate announce a plan to comply or face legislation — but also voting against abuse protections for School Board employees, bullying training and prevention programs, and voted for a Republican bill to allow parents to cherry-pick their schools regardless of residence.

Petersen has also parted with Democrats with regard to expanding tenants’ rights, certain firearm restrictions, a utility relief bill tied to income, and the legalization of cannabis (medical and recreational; twice). Often engaging with conservative allies in unnecessary, inflammatory (and often totally unrelated to legislation) political theatre — such as announcing the formation of a “Redskins Pride Caucus” alliance with two Republican Delegates in opposition to changing the name of the now Washington Commanders. Petersen was quoted claiming that Native Americans refer to themselves with the term. Regardless of the notoriety, Petersen’s deeppocket donors and deep Fairfax roots have successfully deterred any challenge to his seat.

Unlike the majority of his political career, this year redistricting has Petersen seeking votes from a constituency that, for the most part, do not currently live in his district — including residents of the City of Falls Church. An estimated 95,000 voters in the new district are currently represented by someone else, compared to an estimated 75,000 represented by the Senator from Fairfax.

Regardless of the challenges, Petersen is upbeat about the potential new turf. ““I think of the new 37th Senate District as ‘the Historic Triangle’ of northern Virginia, as it brings together three historic communities, the City of Falls Church, the Town of Vienna and the City of Fairfax, and their surrounding neighborhoods,” Petersen said when asked for a comment, “then also includes the economic engine and cultural mosaic that is Tysons.”

We will likely hear a lot more about this race between now and the June 20, 2023 primary.