Statements From the 4 Candidates on F.C. Ballot Next Month

My name is Saddam Azlan Salim and I am running for Senate because we deserve a real Democrat for Virginia’s future. I want to start by telling you my story ––a story that I think represents the values I cherish as a Democrat and why I fight for the issues that matter to us all. When my family immigrated to the US, we found ourselves homeless and struggling within a year. It was Fairfax County and its affordable housing program that took us in and saved us. Soon after, my parents were able to get care from Fairfax County’s affordable healthcare clinics to help them get treatment for longstanding health issues. I attended public school and university here, like Falls Church High School, Northern Virginia Community College and GMU where I eventually got a Bachelors and Masters Degree. All of these things were made possible because of policies and values that Democrats have fought for –– affordable housing, affordable healthcare, and public education. When Democrats invest into policies like these, it produces people like me. I am running to reinvest in these programs and ensure they are even better for future generations.

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Dear Falls Church City voter:

Last June, after the redistricting maps came out, I began knocking on doors in the Little City. I started on Poplar Drive and kept going until I reached the end of East Columbia. Along the way, I talked to hundreds of City residents on their front porch or in their front yard.

Politics is a service business. In 1998, I started as a Fairfax City Councilman the same way – knocking on doors as if I was on a job interview. And I was.

I’ve been in public office for 25 years, representing neighborhoods from the western edge of Fairfax County to now the border of Arlington. I’ve risen to a senior position in the Virginia Senate. During that time, Northern Virginia has changed significantly – demographically and politically. But the key to representation has stayed the same: it’s knowing a community and speaking for it.

The 2023 Democratic primary differs from my early elections when I was a Democratic challenger running against Republican incumbents. I now spend time defending my own record, which I’m happy to do. For example, in 2021, I led the fight to reopen schools and our state economy

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I am Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, and I have been the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington and the City of Falls Church since 2020. Four years ago, despite being a very progressive jurisdiction, our Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office was one of the most regressive. We had no mental health court, no restorative justice program, and no conviction review unit; the office was seeking the death penalty and asking for cash bail; our drug court was being underused; and resources were wasted prosecuting thousands of marijuana possession cases, disproportionately against people of color.

In my first term, I have turned the office around, and we now lead the nation on criminal justice reform. I helped create a mental health docket to divert people towards treatment. I created a restorative justice program, which increases victim satisfaction and decreases recidivism. I created a conviction review unit to look into wrongful convictions. I immediately implemented policies against seeking the death penalty or asking for cash bail. I quadrupled the number of people in drug court. I stopped prosecuting marijuana possession and worked with the legislature to legalize it. I did all of this while increasing trial conviction rates for

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“Real Reform, Real Justice” is not a campaign slogan. It’s my commitment to this community to truly deliver on the promise of 21st century reform prosecution. That commitment reemphasizes the centrality of justice for victims. It means only engaging in just prosecutions of the accused. And it resolves to always remain focused on just and equitable outcomes for the convicted.

I started in the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney 12 years ago as an unpaid intern and rose to the rank of Deputy under the incumbent. I have tried over 50 jury trials and have practiced in all of the courts in our jurisdiction. As a Deputy, I was specifically entrusted to supervise and train the largest team of attorneys. For the past 3 years, I have had a front row seat to the incumbent’s leadership, and I can tell you with clear-eyed certainty that we are failing to deliver on the promise of reform.

The incumbent and I are both Democrats committed to reform. Abolishing cash bail, supporting diversion for those struggling with substance abuse and mental illness, supporting Drug Court and the Behavioral Health Docket–all of those are rightly woven into the fabric of our local system. We both support Red Flag laws, ending the death penalty, and decriminalizing marijuana. However, only one of us

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