Democratic Candidates to Succeed Gerry Connolly
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Anonymous
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Gerry Connolly, who has represented VA-11 in Congress for some time, has announced he is not seeking re-election due to health regions (a recurrence of cancer, unfortunately).
He has endorsed James Walkinshaw, the current Braddock District member of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, to succeed him. Walkinshaw was also previously Connolly's chief of staff for almost a decade in Congress. Separately, Stella Pekarsky, a current member of the Virginia state member and FCPS School Board member, has also announced she is seeking Connolly's seat. Walkinshaw has impressed me as a thoughtful member of the Board of Supervisors. He would look out for NoVa residents, including federal employees, and be a consistent, principled voice of opposition to the dangerous policies of Donald Trump. Conversely, Pekarsky was one of the least impressive School Board members in recent FCPS history. She was part of the group that kept schools in Fairfax closed for many months, and did nothing during her four years on the School Board to address the overcrowding at Chantilly HS, which the kids of many of her constituents attended. She rolled over when other Democrats like Karen Corbett Sanders and Karl Frisch pushed through unnecessary capital projects that diverted spending to schools in their districts. She is loud and obnoxious, but rarely in command of the facts. The Republicans on Capital Hill would chew her up and spit her out, and she would be easily ridiculed by the right-wing media. Walkinshaw is by far the better choice. |
Anonymous
| Steve Descano would be a perfect replacement |
Anonymous
| Met Walkinshaw during his first campaign and was impressed. And his office has been responsive. |
Anonymous
| Descano has a track record Walkinshaw could only dream of. |
Anonymous
Descano is a major douchebag. |
Anonymous
Blah blah blah. OP started a reasonable post, you could have the courtesy to reply in kind, especially as the second post, instead of attempting to derail the thread. |
Anonymous
| Really hoping it’s Walkinshaw. Pekarsky is a lightweight. I don’t think she was hardline on school closures during Covid though the same way Cohen and Frisch were. Not saying she was a thought leader on the subject or anything but I don’t think she was outspoken on keeping schools closed until some unreasonable “metric” could be reached. |
Anonymous
| Have always like Walkinshaw. Hope he gets it! |
Anonymous
| Pekarsky co-patroned the Fairfax casino bill that was not going to be built in her own Senate district. She’s as bad as Surovell. |
Anonymous
| Descano will have more trouble getting independent voters than some alternatives. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
Descano isn’t running. |