fairfax democrats prepare for the primaries

DEMOCRATIC FAIRFAX COUNTY CANDIDATES PREPARE FOR THE PRIMARIES sahithi jammulamadaka editorial board

With the primary elections for Fairfax County coming up on June 11, Democrats running for these positions are getting ready. Because of the increase in incumbent members retiring there are more open seats than ever before. The positions open include Chairman for the Board of Supervisors, members of the Board of Supervisors, members of the School Board At-Large, members of the House of Delegates, and member of the Town Council. With forty-eight candidates running for these positions as a Democrat or an Independent it is sure to be a difficult race.

Here is a look at some of the people that are running:

Ryan McElveen: Ryan McElveen is a Marshall High school graduate and currently a member of the Fairfax County School Board. He hopes to leave more of an impact on Fairfax County by running for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He believes in creating programs for universal pre-Kindergarten so, “every child is ready to enter the global workforce.” Creating innovative and sustainable infrastructure is very important along with creating a fiscal discipline plan, so taxes are kept low while making all of these changes.

Abrar Omeish: As a graduate from Robinson High School in 2013, she knows the most important problems within Fairfax County. This is her first year running for the at-large seats on the school board but has worked on the campaigns of both Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders. If elected she would be an advocate for equity across the board. She believes that regardless of the area you live, your socioeconomic status, or race you should be receiving the same level of education.

Rachna Heizer: Rachna Heizer’s is a professor at Texas Tech University, an attorney, and now is running for an at-large seat on the school board. As a parent of two kids who are or were in the Fairfax County school system, she has long said that FCPS works in a bucket system. She said, “to those who fit in the bucket it works great, but those who don’t are excluded and aren’t able to receive as great of an education as their peers.” As a mother of a son with autism, she hopes to make schools more inclusive regardless of a student’s disability. She also hopes to make schools more environmentally friendly and create a cost-efficient and creative plan for current infrastructure issues.

Karl Frisch: As a former small business owner Karl Frisch has helped the National Education Association, Rock the Vote, and other tech companies improve their communications strategies. He has also been a staff member of the House Rules Committee and has worked to expose political corruption. He has repeatedly challenged the Trump Administration and Education Secretary, Betsy Devos, and has also worked host for many Democratic officials. Frisch runs on a platform for equity and opportunity for all students regardless of where they came from and wants to work on actively closing the achievement gap. He also would like to work on creating smaller classes and having fewer classrooms in the trailers by reducing the 37-year renovation cycle, to 25 years.