Rosemary Lynch of Franconia never considered herself a politician, yet here she is in the thick of a battle as the Democratic candidate for the 39th Senate District seat.
"I really feel that I can make a difference," she said. "I have the time to devote, and I was concerned when I saw the other person running was [Del.] Jay O'Brien [R-40th]."
Lynch, 55, of the Rose Hill community, and husband Don have two daughters, Kate, 22, and Heather, 26, and education has always been a top priority for her. She was involved in three schools' PTAs and, from 1998-2000, served as president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs.
That's why she's waging such an aggressive campaign against O'Brien and firmly believes she can beat him in the Nov. 5 election. "From my experience with him when I was on the county Council of PTAs, he is not a supporter of public education," she said. "He is an extreme conservative and is in favor of vouchers, which take money from public schools and give it to private or religious schools."
Lynch said O'Brien voted against the statewide 6-percent teacher pay raise and against additional school-construction money that Northern Virginia could have used. And, she said, "He voted against the half-cent for education on the [tax] referendum — and he voted with the rest of the Republican party to adjourn [the legislative session], rather than discuss that."
Lynch has experience in several areas. She's studied substance-abuse counseling at NOVA and started and is executive director of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Assn. This trade association represents the waterway's users in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Lynch seeks federal funding and works on navigation safety and keeping the channels clear.
She's also assistant director of Dredging Contractors of America, handling its finance and membership Said Lynch: "It's a lobbying association, and we represent their interests on the Hill." She also has prior experience as assistant to the chief of staff of a federal-government agency.
And she's definitely a fighter. A breast-cancer survivor, on Oct. 12 she celebrated two years of being cancer free and decided to re-focus her energies on her school-volunteer work. Then, this summer, Gov. Warner called and asked if she'd serve on the steering committee of Citizens for Better Transportation to help get the tax referendum for transportation approved.
Warner knew of her work on the county Council of PTAs and, said Lynch, "he knew I had a reputation of being solidly out there for education." On the steering committee, she represented the education community. "PTAs were really angry because we'd worked really hard to get that half-cent for education," she explained. "I worked with the PTA community to get them to support [the tax referendum for transportation]."
Staunchly behind the sales-tax increase for this purpose, she said, "We all live in this county, and passing the tax referendum will help us and, hopefully, free up some money in the general fund for public safety and education. It's important because this is an opportunity to raise the money and keep it here."
Lynch stressed that the tax wouldn't be on food and drugs, and a Northern Virginia Transit Authority would determine how the proceeds would be spent. "It's all about control, and this gives us the option to have some control," she said.
She believes the state needs to look at other ways of taking care of Northern Virginia's transportation needs, which are "tremendous. In Virginia, cities and towns are able to tax themselves if there's a need, but counties cannot. I'd like counties to be able to do the same thing."
Lynch said more rapid transit and more roadways are needed and, she said, "It boggles my mind that we have to get Richmond's permission to vote on a half-cent tax. Why not elect officials that we can trust to do this for us?"
Her platform also emphasizes funding for education and making education a priority in Virginia. "For too long, I've watched budget cut after budget cut [eliminate school] programs," she said. "Every year, the PTA community is pitted against the police and fire department [for funds]."
Noting that Fairfax County's budget is mostly funded by real-estate taxes, Lynch said, "We can't constantly expect homeowners to come up with funds for our needs, and we need a better way of funding education — [something] much fairer. We've got to look at the funding formula and make some changes."
She's also interested in health care and the high cost of prescription drugs. "It's a disgrace that some people have to make a choice between buying prescriptions and buying food," she said. "I plan to work hard on affordable prescription drugs for seniors and low- and middle-income people."
Lynch is also considering endorsing legislation raising the amount of income senior citizens can have and still be eligible for prescription-drug coverage under Medicare. "Jay's voted against it," she added.
As for O'Brien, Lynch doesn't believe he's shown much leadership during his 11-year tenure in office. And she doubts that he'd be able to adequately represent the varied interests of the people of the 39th District.
"It's a really large district, and there are so many different issues here," she said. "And there are different demographics than he's used to, in my area. There's dense population — lots of immigrants — and I don't believe he's familiar with or understands their needs." She said both she and O'Brien have little name recognition in the vast, new district, but her polls indicate that "the voters in the 39th District are with me on the issues overwhelmingly."
Lynch announced her candidacy in late August and truly believes she'd represent the citizens well because she's an energetic person who works hard and gets things done: "When I commit to something, I commit 200 percent to it." Furthermore, she said, "I really believe I could promote the wishes and will of my constituents because I'd be listening to them and voting [accordingly] in Richmond."
Conversely, she said, O'Brien has often been at the opposite side of issues against his own party. "He's not a moderate Republican like [Del.] Jim Dillard [R-41], who's been a phenomenal representative for education," she said. "Jay has never been given a powerful committee assignment. He's never shown any real activism — he seems to be a pretty passive delegate."
Noting that many issues are nonpartisan, "people-issues," Lynch said she works well with others and is able to build coalitions. "And that's what we need — people who can work together," she said. "You don't want the far right or far left, who can immobilize the process."
She said she's always been willing to put herself out for what she believes is right and for what the majority of the people want, so she has no personal, narrow agenda of her own to promote. And when the polls close and all the votes are counted, in two weeks, said Lynch, "I plan to win this thing."