Primary Tuesday for 45th House of Delegates Seat

Voters in Fairfax County head to the polls Tuesday from 6 a.m. - 7 p.m. In Greater Alexandria, residents will vote for a Democratic nominee for the 45th and 44th districts in the House of Delegates.

See a map here of the 45th District and here for the 44th District.

The Fairfax County elections office warns that public schools are still in session. If your poll is at a school location, please be cautious when driving in that area, especially in the morning and afternoon when buses are unloading or loading and the students are walking or being dropped off.

Only registered voters in the 44th Delegate District, 45th Delegate District, Mason Supervisor District and Mt. Vernon Supervisor District are eligible to vote in the Democratic Party Primary Elections.

To determine whether you are registered to vote in these districts, please visit the Virginia State Board of Elections website, or call the county elections office at 703-222-0776. Please note that there will be no Republican Party Primary Elections held in Fairfax County.

45th District House of Delegates (see sample ballot here)

Five Democrats will be on the primary ballot Tuesday to replace Del. Rob Krupicka as the representative for Virginia’s 45th District. The district includes portions of Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax County. Krupicka announced March 16 that he decided not to run again.

“Between business, family, and public service, it is clear that I’m burning more candles at more ends than I can sustain,” he said. Krupicka recently opened a donut shop called Sugar Shack and will also open a speakeasy, in Alexandria.

Here are the candidates (click on the links to visit their campaign sites):

• Julie Jakopic
• Clarence Tong
• Craig Fifer
• Laurence Altenburg II
• Mark Levine

Jakopic has won the endorsement of Krupicka. “Julie has the right experiences, the right skills, and the right values to be a leader in Richmond we can all be proud of,” he said in a news release announcing his endorsement.

45th House of Delegates District Candidates’ Statements

Mark Levine

Since the 1990’s, I have been transforming progressive principles into law, as both a citizen activist and Legislative Counsel to Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA).

In fact, I wrote my first bill just a few years after my graduation from Yale Law School when my sister was murdered by her husband. That horrible tragedy thrust my parents and me into a legal maelstrom as we tried desperately to seek justice for my sister and retrieve her children from her killer when he fled to Mexico. My first bill served to protect victims from domestic violence by helping them to take their children away from the physical abuse. The bill passed unanimously into law. It was too late to help my sister, of course, but since then, I’ve been determined to fight to make the legal system more fair for struggling families. I wrote a similar bill in Virginia last February that was introduced by Senator Adam Ebbin prior to Del. Rob Krupicka’s retirement.

As a citizen activist, I’ve also written bills for other states. I wrote the nation’s first bill which would have given gay and lesbian couples full and equal rights under the law, and I crafted DC’s marriage-equality law. While working for Congressman Barney Frank, I wrote federal bills protecting civil liberties and a woman’s right to choose. I also represented the Congressional Black Caucus in its formal legal challenge before Congress to the 2000 selection of George W. Bush as President by the United States Supreme Court.

Some battles I’ve won. Others I’ve lost. (Bush became President. Sorry, I did try to stop it.) But I’ve never run from a fight. Here at home, I want to invest in education and transportation, expand Medicaid, protect our environment and civil liberties, hold Dominion accountable, and enact sensible gun regulation.

We also have to elect more Democrats to the General Assembly! In my fourteen years living in Alexandria, I have volunteered every year to help Democrats, as both a precinct captain and voter-protection attorney. As your delegate, I commit to going to “purple” districts in Fairfax, Prince William, and Loudoun counties to make the case for our values in the rest of Virginia. As someone who has long advocated for progressive issues on national radio and television, I have converted many conservatives into progressives, one conversation at a time.

These are just some of my goals. What I really want to know is what you care about, since that is what representative democracy is all about. To that end, I want to invite you, your family, and your friends to come to one of the house parties my supporters are hosting every week from now until Election Day. You can find more information on these gatherings on my websiteMarkforDelegate.com. Thank you for your consideration.

www.markfordelegate.com >>

Julie Jakopic

My career has been guided by one clear value: for all of us to do well as a community or as a Commonwealth, each of us must have the opportunity to reach our highest potential regardless of where we start.

I know from personal experience that public policy is personal and every person matters. Raised by a single mom, I learned first-­‐hand the challenges too many families face. I’ve used that experience to create access for children to safe, quality education, help government and nonprofits improve services for families, and expand economic opportunity for all.

I am known as a leader with a clear vision who gets things done. I built my own business. I’ve led commissions and nonprofit boards fighting for early childhood education, economic opportunity, social services, and housing. Also, I’ve forged coalitions by focusing on real needs rather than rhetoric. Now, I’m running for Delegate to give every child and family real opportunities to reach their potential.

Here are just some of the results I’ve already achieved for the betterment of our community and country:

• Helped Alexandria acquire and manage nearly $15 million in affordable housing for those with disabilities.
• Expanded access to quality early care and education by advocating greater investment at the state and local level. I have also helped Hopkins House Preschool Academy develop a second school in the 45th and a third in Herndon.
• Helped more than 40 state agencies and their non-­‐profit social service and Head Start grantees improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the services they provide.

I am honored to have the endorsement of current 45th District Delegate Rob Krupicka and former Delegate Marian Van Landingham. I ask for your support and your vote. To follow the campaign, contribute or volunteer, please check out our website at www.JulieforDelegate.com.

www.juliefordelegate.com >>

Clarence Tong

My campaign is based on the idea that all Virginians should have a fair shot. Whether it is access to affordable healthcare, a responsible energy future good for our environment and our economy, or ensuring that all Virginians have access to high quality educational opportunities, I will fight in Richmond to protect our Democratic values and represent the priorities of Northern Virginians.

I am running for Delegate because I strongly believe in and have dedicated my career to public service. Over the last decade, I have served as a staffer on Capitol Hill and later became an Obama appointee at the Department of Energy.

My wife Alice and I have made a home in the City of Alexandria and have worked to serve our great community. I was elected Chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, appointed to be a Member of the City’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee (BFAAC), and selected to serve on the Board of the North Old Town Independent Citizens Association (NOTICe). Now, I hope to serve our community in a different capacity, as your representative in the Virginia House of Delegates.

You can find more information online attongforva.com. Over the next few short weeks, I look forward to getting to know more residents of the 45th District, and hope to earn your vote on June 9th.

www.tongforva.com >>

Larry Altenburg

Like many of you, I was raised on true Democratic values. Although I grew up on the free and reduced lunch program, my parents always reminded me that others needed more help than us. We gave back to our community when we could by collecting and distributing toys and winter coats around the holidays and volunteering at our local soup kitchen. I remain mindful that we all need to help each other and diligently build a community we can be proud of. I joined the Boy Scouts to build my community stronger, served in the military, and was a civilian in the federal government before joining the private sector and supporting numerous state and federal government entities address their key problems and missions.

For several years, I served as the President of the Del Ray Citizens Association, representing over 25,000 Alexandria residents before city and state government agencies on a variety of core issues important to the community, especially public safety, traffic and parking, land use and zoning, law enforcement, and education. It was here that I learned the value and importance of building community driven, consensus-based solutions, and that by working together we can achieve remarkable things. My experiences in addressing our region’s key issues as a professional and as a volunteer make me uniquely qualified to represent you in Richmond, as I am committed to working within and across party lines to solve issues that affect our citizens every day.

As the only parent in this race, I have a vested interest in improving our schools. Fully funding our schools and removing the attention to high-stakes testing and putting it back on a holistic curriculum for our children so they get the tools and build the skills they need to be successful after they graduate is the core of my campaign. Teachers need to be empowered to give students to skills they need to be successful, competitive, and prepared for life after school. Reforming the Standards of Learning program and ensuring appropriate funding across the Commonwealth are top priorities for our teachers and students, and will be my highest priority in Richmond.

With the decline in federal spending and Virginia’s reliance on government and military contracts, we face a significant risk to our prosperity as a state unless we invest in new industries that enable us to compete in a global economy and create new jobs. With my 15 years as a business executive, responsible for over $1.2 billion in business and having created hundreds of jobs, I can bring a perspective on diversifying and growing our business base that no other candidate can. I can work side-by-side with the Governor to encourage investment across the Commonwealth in growth industries including advanced technologies, 21st century manufacturing, cyber security, and clean energy, and bring long-term, high-paying jobs to Virginia that will enable our ongoing fiscal health.

Our transportation systems are not supporting the needs of our region or our state. We need to get around better, faster, and pay less to do so without reliance on our cars. It is essential that we reinvest in our existing infrastructure while addressing our future transportation needs. My experience in urban planning and direct community problem solving will ensure that the proper attention is paid to these key Northern Virginia issues in Richmond.

As Delegate, I will work diligently to find common sense solutions to these problems. I will bring my experience building common-sense, consensus based solutions, and focus my attention on solving real-world problems that affect the citizens of the 45th District every day.

I would be honored to have your support on June 9. To learn more, please visitwww.AltenburgforDelegate.net.

www.altenburgfordelegate.net >>

Craig Fifer

For over 20 years, I’ve been honored to serve the people of Virginia professionally and through non-profit and political advocacy. As a Court-appointed Special Advocate, I have worked to make sure children who are victims of abuse and neglect have the opportunity to thrive. As the Director of Communications and E-Government Manager for the City of Alexandria, I’ve spearheaded programs like connecting to free public Wi-Fi, reporting potholes online, and getting help from a customer service hotline.

Now, I want to go to Richmond to leverage my skills and expertise for the people of the 45th District.

I’ll fight for dignity and opportunity for every Virginian by investing in early education, nutrition, and child protection programs to give kids a strong start to life; ensuring women can make their own health care decisions; expanding Medicaid and mental health services; and working to eliminate the wage gap.

I’ll work towards effective and transparent government by improving cooperation between state and local agencies to make government work better; and fighting for real ethics reform and non-partisan redistricting to make government more honest.

I’ll help build safe and sustainable communities by promoting scalable transportation systems; supporting Virginia’s first responders; and developing sustainable energy choices to protect our environment.

As a proven progressive and a leader who gets results, I’ll be an advocate for our Democratic values while working to pass legislation that matters. Please visit my website at www.fiferfordelegate.com. I ask for your vote on June 9.