Ken Cuccinelli
Ken Cuccinelli, 33, was the first of all the candidates to announce his candidacy — way back in October — before Barry said he was stepping down.
Raised in Fairfax County, he obtained a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from UVA in 1991, a law degree from GMU in 1995 and a masters degree in international commerce and policy in 2000 from GMU. He's a patent attorney in Crystal City.
Cuccinelli lives in Centreville's Hanna Estates, near the Mount Olive community. He and his wife, Teiro, have four daughters, Alie, 6 1/2; Marielle, 4; Reilly, 2 1/2 and Reagan, 1 — and a fifth daughter, Anna Veronica, is due July 22.
Active in grass-roots, Republican campaigns for the past 10 years, he's been involved in Sully District politics since 1995 and was the Sully GOP's membership coordinator. In this race, he's running as the conservative, pro-life, anti-tax candidate.
* Cuccinelli is against tax increases and the sales-tax referendum. "That's a decision for the legislators to make," he said. "[By having a referendum], they're ducking — they're passing the buck to the voters. But that's why they were elected — to make hard decisions."
When income-tax revenues were going through the roof in the late 1990s and into 2001, he said, the legislators were spending money on everything but transportation — "which is the highest, underfunded priority in state government."
Instead, said Cuccinelli, he'd use General Fund money for transportation. It's not the way it's normally been done but, he said, that's the problem — "the legislators' inappropriate unwillingness to shed old ways of doing business. We need to make income-tax revenues available for transportation funding."
* Regarding the pro-life issue, he says he's the only Republican candidate who's comfortable talking about moral matters in the political arena. Said Cuccinelli: "I have a demonstrated commitment to following those issues, addressing them and moving them forward."
* Noting the importance of education to the region, he says good schools and a well-educated workforce go together. Toward that end, he said, "I'd like to see us implement a high-tech, non-military ROTC program at the collegiate level. Virginia's state government would be a clearing house connecting prospective high-school grads with the high-tech companies that feed Northern Virginia's economy."
Cuccinelli said it's better than taypayers having to pay for student loans: "The companies would put the students through college, and the students would have guaranteed jobs with them when they graduated."
Jim Mitchell
A veteran of two campaigns for the 67th District seat, Centreville's Jim Mitchell is now in a race for Warren Barry's job in the state senate.
"I've been a businessman for 19 years and I know how to balance budgets, make capital improvements and meet payroll," he said. "We need more business people and less politicians in Richmond, and that's what my campaign's about."
Mitchell, 44, and his wife Marion live in Sully Estates. Sons Ryan, 20, and Pat, 18, are college students, and daughter Tara, 15, is a rising Westfield High freshman.
Mitchell has a bachelor's in American History and a law degree from American University. He's president of Metropolitan Title & Escrow Co. in Chantilly and operates a real-estate law practice, also in Chantilly.
He co-chairs Centreville Strategic Planning Task Force and belongs to the Herndon-Dulles Chamber of Commerce. He's running for senate because he's concerned that "nobody's really talking about the sales-tax referendum."
* Mitchell believes Virginia's state-taxation system must be revamped. "Unless we have enough courage in Northern Virginia to seize control of our own destiny, we're going to be stuck with the morally and financially bankrupt leadership of the General Assembly running our lives," he said. "We have no friends in Richmond, and we have to solve our own problems."
* Regarding education, it bothers Mitchell that Westfield High will have 24 prefab classrooms in the future and Stone Middle School already has 19 trailers. "We're right back in the middle of another school-construction crisis in Fairfax County," he said. "Our school system doesn't have money to give teachers adequate raises, and we've had to make budget cuts."
Mitchell said he warned, five years ago, of the need to develop alternative ways to fund public-school construction, but nothing's changed. What's needed is a "dedicated, bipartisan effort on the local level to restructure the way taxes work in the commonwealth and in Fairfax County."
* With no money for even priority transportation projects, Mitchell says Virginia must revamp its handling of state finances: "Let's figure out what to do [about the shortfall], instead of complaining about it."
Although just recently announcing his candidacy, he believes his chances are really good. "I got 49 percent of the vote in 1999 against a 10-year incumbent," he explained. "Most of the people of the 37th District are in Sully now, or were before, and they know who I am. And I think my message will resonate with the people in the Braddock and Springfield districts, as well."
Cathy Belter
Cathy Belter, 56, of Springfield, was state PTA president, served on the national PTA Board and is in her third year as Springfield District School Board representative. Now she's vying for Warren Barry's state senate seat.
She has a bachelor's degree in English literature and journalism, plus a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Maryland. She and her husband Leonard have two grown children, Laura and Douglas, and a granddaughter, 19 months.
During her 10 years on the national PTA Board, Belter was education chairman and legislative vice-president — instrumental in creating the national PTA's legislative program. She lobbied, met with Congress and discussed funding priorities with members of the state Department of Education.
She's currently chairman of the local School Board's legislative committee, promoting its legislative program in Richmond. And the most recent Virginia legislative sessions helped crystallize her decision to run for office.
"I saw more and more bills dealing with education being pushed aside in the General Assembly because big groups were coming forward on other matters," she said. "Not enough people from the communities were pushing educational issues with their legislative representatives."
* Belter hopes to change that, as well as to promote the recommendations of the JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee). The state legislators commissioned a study of education across Virginia as it pertains to the SOLs.
The report came out last fall and concluded that Virginia has been underfunding education for the last few years. "We need to look at the funding formula because it doesn't match the expanding population and the number of teachers we need in our classrooms," said Belter. "And we need to address the increased needs of ESOL children."
* In other arenas, Belter has also been active in Social Action Linking Together (SALT), which responds to the needs of people who are struggling and often overlooked. "The group lobbies the General Assembly for housing that's affordable for middle- and lower-income people," she explained. "Many teachers have told us, time and time again, that they just can't afford to live here." In addition, SALT lobbies for funding for homeless shelters and children's health-care needs.
* Regarding the sales-tax referendum and transportation, Belter supported the plan that would have yielded a half-cent of the sales-tax increase for transportation and a half-cent of it for education. "If was disappointed that we didn't get it," she said. "The transportation issue is a major one for everyone, and that's why people want a referendum — because Richmond doesn't have the money."
Mike Thompson
A member of the Republican Party since 1964, Springfield's Mike Thompson, 56, believes he has the business, community, political and nonprofit experience to fill Barry's shoes.
He runs the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy — a nonpartisan organization focused on Virginia government. "We look for ways to do government better," he explained. "For the last six years, I've worked with nothing but state and local political issues — this is what I do every day."
Thompson and wife Kit have two grown children, Mike Jr. of Burke and Liza of Nashville, Tenn. Both are married and the parents of two daughters each.
He's served on the Fairfax County Republican Committee since 1975, was vice-chairman and was also on the Republican State Central Committee from 1988 through 1991. He chaired Rep. Thomas M. Davis III's (R-11th) campaign committee in 1994, Rep. David B. Albo's (R-42nd) campaign for delegate in 1993 and Jim Miller's senate campaign, in the county, in 1994.
Thompson also has vast civic and community experience. For four terms, he chaired the Springfield District Council of Citizens Associations — an umbrella organization for more than 220 homeowners associations — and is still on its board.
He also chaired the more-than-10,000-member Virginia chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses — the largest business association in the state. He's still on its board and is the longest-serving member of its board of directors.
Thompson is on the board of the county Federation of Civic Associations and was one of the founding members of the Occoquan Watershed Coalition (OWC). He considers himself a Reagan Republican whose supporters include people on both sides of the major issues.
* He's pro-life and anti-sales-tax referendum. He believes that making state government and spending more efficient would raise more money than would a sales-tax increase to tackle traffic congestion.
Thompson said a study commissioned by the General Assembly in 1999 concluded that contracting out government jobs paralleled in the private sector would save some $360 million a year. Saying the flat savings should be put into infrastructure, Thompson said goals should be set and "people held accountable for the way our money is spent."
* He believes an analysis of the school system would also reveal potential savings. For example, he said, studies show schools could save more money by teaching students phonics than by putting them in special-education classes because they can't read. Said Thompson:
"According to the American Federation of Teachers Unions, you'd free up 500 classrooms a year — the equivalent of 20 elementary schools."