Your Local Democratic Party
Thank you Hunter Mill District Democratic Committee for another successful Lasagna Dinner. We could not have had an amazing event without our sponsors, our tireless volunteers, and our democratic community.
Concluding May 20th, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) has administered a first-of-its-kind endorsement caucus to select its endorsees for the Fairfax County School Board.
For the first time since FCDC started endorsing candidates in 1995, non-member Democratic voters were able to help make our endorsement decision. During the caucus, we saw more than 3,300 voters throughout Fairfax County join us in choosing a slate of candidates who will be prepared to return a Democratic majority to the School Board this November.
Regarding the endorsement caucus, FCDC Chair Bryan Graham states “We thank everyone who voted in the endorsement caucus this year. Public education is vitally important to the families of Fairfax County and to the businesses that choose to locate here. We are excited to see our endorsees deliver a strong message and affirmative vision to voters throughout the summer and into the fall.”
The Democratic-endorsed candidates for Fairfax County School Board are:
○ At-Large: Ilryong Moon, Ryan McElveen, Kyle McDaniel
○ Hunter Mill District: Melanie Meren
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the other candidates for participating in the process. As our slate of candidates has been completed, we move forward to speaking with our voters and engaging in preparation for the fall elections.
Join us for our 47th Annual Hunter Mill District Democratic Committee Lasagna Dinner on May 13. Our Hunter Mill District Democratic Committee is our signature event of the year and a very important fundraiser to help support our Democratic candidates. Our format will follow previous years with a reception and a dinner program. The Lasagna Dinner is an excellent opportunity to invite local democrats who might not be familiar with our committee and interact with our elected officials. It is the biggest political event of the year along the Dulles Corridor. As always, we will be awarding two awards during the ceremony: the Ed Herlihy Activist Award and the Martha Pennino Community Service Award. These awards denote exceptional service both within the Democratic Party and throughout our Hunter Mill District community.
Buy your tickets today! It is crucial that we have the resources to support our candidates and voter outreach into the community. This work is especially important as we support our candidates from the onslaught of Governor Youngkin’s ambitions. Our committee will support our state and local Democratic candidates with a vibrant voter outreach program. The Hunter Mill Democrats Lasagna Dinner is a volunteer lead operation and we are still looking for some volunteers. If you are interested in lending your talents or donating some food, you can sign up here. We will be adding some updates about the Lasagna Dinner over the next weeks so be on the lookout and we hope you are able to join us.
Click here to buy an ad in our event program, and get your campaign or organization recognized within the event program.
The cherry blossoms are blooming, the daffodils are popping, and as March prepares to go out like a lamb, primary season is roaring into Hunter Mill District like a lion. We are currently in the midst of the filing season for candidates in many state and local races, and in the face of all the high-profile retirements, whether you prefer to Pick Your Pony or press the flesh at the 2023 Lasagna Dinner, it is looking like an exciting year to be a Hunter Mill Democrat!
Primaries are funny things because, like any other election, you have to be all in for your candidate and give everything you can as a volunteer and a supporter. But unlike in a general election, when the dust settles and a candidate is either nominated or endorsed, we will only succeed if we rally to elect the nominee/endorsee—regardless of whether it’s the one we would have chosen. In the end, we all want to keep Fairfax County a special shade of deep sapphire, and the only way we can do that is for candidates and their supporters to be enthusiastic and respectful. The press loves a “Dems in disarray” story, and Republicans will go to great lengths to turn us against each other.
Also, primaries are a great opportunity to engage our neighbors and friends in the civic process. Invite your friends to get engaged with the candidates and our local committee during this time. As the saying goes “democracy is not a spectator sport”.
We are fortunate in Hunter Mill to expect such a great selection of candidates, and to have such a deeply engaged and committed group of activists who back them. Let’s look forward to some real democracy in action, and select the best candidates we can for November.
Another major political retirement is coming to Hunter Mill District as Sen. Janet Howell recently announced she would not seek reelection in 2023. It’s fitting that we should have the opportunity to honor her historic career during Women’s History Month.
Sen. Janet Howell has been an elected representative in Reston and Fairfax County since 1992 and is the longest-serving female legislator in Virginia. Howell is a champion of education, mental health services, and a staunch women’s rights advocate. As the Chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, she guided crucial funding to our school districts and universities in the Commonwealth.
Howell stated she believes she has accomplished “most of [her] legislative goals” over her 32 years of service and now hopes to spend more time with her husband, including for travel. Howell leaves a long legacy of mentees in the General Assembly and even left a roadmap for future leaders with her book Leading the Way: Women in Power.
March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is International Women’s Day. Senator Howell’s achievements are part of the substantive foundation of women impacting the Hunter Mill District community. Her leadership will be sorely missed, but we consider ourselves fortunate to have benefitted from that leadership for so long.
This is a listing of the current elections impacting the Hunter Mill District for 2023:
| Elected Office | Candidate Name |
| Sheriff | Stacey Kincaid |
| Sheriff | Kelvin Garcia |
| Commonwealth Attorney | Steve Descano |
| Commonwealth Attorney | Ed Nuttall |
| Clerk of the Court | Chris Falcon |
| State Senate – SD 38 | Jennifer Boysko |
| State Senate – SD 36 | George Barker |
| State Senate – SD 36 | Stella Perkarsky |
| State Senate – SD 37 | Chap Petersen |
| State Senate – SD 37 | Saddam Salim |
| House of Delegates – HD 8 | Irene Shin |
| House of Delegates – HD 12 | Holly Seibold |
| House of Delegates – HD 6 | Rip Sullivan |
| House of Delegates – HD 7 | Karen Keys Gamarra |
| House of Delegates – HD 7 | Paul Berry |
| House of Delegates – HD 7 | Shyamali Hauth |
| House of Delegates – HD 7 | Mary Barthelson |
| House of Delegates – HD 11 | David Bulova |
| Chairman of Board of Supervisors (At-Large) | Jeff McKay |
| Hunter Mill District Supervisor | Walter Alcorn |
| Fairfax County School Board (Hunter Mill) | Melanie Meren |
| Fairfax County School Board (Hunter Mill) | Paul Thomas |
| Fairfax County School Board (At Large) | Kyle McDaniel |
| Fairfax County School Board (At Large) | Lawrence Webb |
| Fairfax County School Board (At Large) | Ilryong Moon |
| Fairfax County School Board (At Large) | Ryan McElveen |
| Fairfax County School Board (At Large) | Hamid Munir |
| Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District Director | Mary Paulet |
| Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District Director | Chris Koerner |
| Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District Director | Rhonda Bitterli |
| Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District Director | Dana Barakat |
Help the Hunter Mill Democrats with their upcoming events and other operations for the crucial 2023 election!
Join the Hunter Mill Democrats for a petition pizza party! Hosted at the North County Governmental Center Community Room from 6 PM to 8 PM.
Help our Hunter Mill District candidates collect signatures to get on the ballot in 2023. It’s a great informal way to meet candidates, learn about upcoming events, and catch up with your fellow Hunter Mill Democrats. Also, it’s a great time to invite prospective or new committee members too.
Whether you are a candidate or a voter, be sure to read the rules! FCDC maintains a page with the relevant links and information.
Qualified voters who are not members of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee will need to preregister between April 10 and May 5.
There will be a period of online voting from May 13 to May 20, with in-person voting on May 20 available at multiple locations. Those locations are not yet announced but will be announced no later than April 22.
The candidate filing deadline is April 6.
Primaries can be challenging for parties with passionate members like ours. We encourage everyone to fully support their preferred candidates, but that engagement should not involve using any official FCDC or Hunter Mill title. If democracy is going to prevail, party officials must remain neutral in their official capacities and keep their thumbs off the scales.
For our part here at the Hunter Mill Democrat, our publication standards remain neutral as well, which means that we will publish events and announcements that are submitted to us and are salient to the Hunter Mill District Democratic Committee. We encourage candidates to let us know about their events so we make Hunter Mill Democrats aware and give them the opportunity to engage.
Del. Ken Plum, who has been an elected representative in Reston and Fairfax County since 1977, and whose formidable career as a Democratic legislator is rivaled only by his remarkable capacity as an auctioneer at Hunter Mill Democrats’ Lasagna Dinners over the years, plans to announce his retirement and will not run for reelection in 2023.
Del. Plum has been a fixture of Democratic politics in Fairfax County for going on half a century. As a legislator, Del. Plum has had a strong Democratic voting record on virtually every Democratic priority and has consistently been a voice for Hunter Mill values. He has been a frequent attendee and participant at Hunter Mill Democrat meetings, keeping our members abreast of developments in Richmond and offering valuable perspectives on the issues we care about most. Those who attend meetings regularly have no doubt gotten to know Del. Plum and his signature warmth and affability. Before becoming a leader in Fairfax County, Del. Plum was a teacher and school administrator.
We are grateful to have had such a consistent, respected voice representing us and our values in Richmond for such a long time. We hope you will join the Hunter Mill Democrats and the Fairfax County Democrats in thanking Del. Plum for an incredible career of service to Hunter Mill District, Fairfax County, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
We expect multiple candidates will vie for the opportunity to replace Del. Plum in the House of Delegates. The primary will take place on June 20, 2023. The deadline for candidates to file for the primary is April 6.