Author: pauldavis

Posted on

Early Voting 2023 and Early Voting Volunteers

Early voting will start on Friday, September 22 for the General Election. While this is traditionally a lower turnout election cycle, there are multiple factors that could radically change the dynamics of these crucial elections. It will be important to take advantage of the early voting period and encourage your community (friends, family, neighbors, etc.) to vote early as well. 

HMDDC needs help staffing a table at the North County Governmental Center for targeted voter outreach. Volunteers providing sample ballots ensure voters know our candidates who aren’t identified get their votes. It is absolutely vital this year with a front and back ballot with various candidate combinations.  Volunteers will greet Democratic Primary voters, provide general election information, and help sign up volunteers to help Hunter Mill District.  To view times and dates for volunteer slots, click here.

Posted on

Hunter Mill Democrats Joint Canvass

Join the Hunter Mill Democrats for our first canvass invasion of the Hunter Mill District of the fall. We have invited special guests Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, Senator Jennifer Boysko, Delegate Irene Shin, SD-36 Candidate Stella Pekarsky, HD-7 Candidate Karen Keys-Gamarra, Clerk of Court Candidate Chris Falcon, and At-Large School Board Candidate Kyle McDaniel to kick off our event. Bring your walking shoes, a charged cell phone, and water. This is a crucial canvass to reach out to our voters in OUR community before the start of early voting on September 22nd. Don’t forget to bring a friend! To sign up, click here

Posted on

FCDC 2023 Endorsements

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.

Posted on

Lasagna Dinner Tickets Are Available Now!

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.

Posted on

Primary Season is Heating Up

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.

Posted on

Celebrating a Historic Career

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.

Posted on

Hunter Mill District Campaigns 2023

This is a listing of the current elections impacting the Hunter Mill District for 2023:

Elected OfficeCandidate Name
SheriffStacey Kincaid
SheriffKelvin Garcia
Commonwealth AttorneySteve Descano
Commonwealth AttorneyEd Nuttall
Clerk of the CourtChris Falcon
State Senate – SD 38Jennifer Boysko
State Senate – SD 36George Barker
State Senate – SD 36Stella Perkarsky
State Senate – SD 37Chap Petersen
State Senate – SD 37 Saddam Salim
House of Delegates – HD 8Irene Shin
House of Delegates – HD 12Holly Seibold
House of Delegates – HD 6 Rip Sullivan
House of Delegates – HD 7Karen Keys Gamarra
House of Delegates – HD 7Paul Berry
House of Delegates – HD 7Shyamali Hauth
House of Delegates – HD 7Mary Barthelson
House of Delegates – HD 11David 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 DirectorMary Paulet
Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District DirectorChris Koerner
Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District DirectorRhonda Bitterli
Northern Va Soil & Water Conservation District DirectorDana Barakat