Add political campaigning to the list of things that can be hazardous to one’s health. At least that’s what Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hopeful Kathy Smith found out last Saturday.
“I’m OK,” she said afterward. “But it was a scary situation.” So scary, in fact, that a local woman was arrested and charged with assaulting her and preventing her from making a 911 call.
Smith, the Sully District’s representative on the School Board since 2002, is running to replace the district’s current supervisor, Michael Frey, who plans to retire. A Democrat, she’s vying against Republican John Guevara for the seat.
So Saturday afternoon, July 11, around 12:30 p.m., she was out knocking on doors on Misty Creek Lane in the Century Oaks community. She’d been talking with residents in that neighborhood for about four days and had been there some 90 minutes on Saturday when the alleged incident occurred.
“I saw a woman doing yardwork near her front porch and I didn’t want to startle her, so I yelled out, ‘Hi, I’m Kathy Smith, running for the Board of Supervisors,’” she said. “And as soon as she heard who I was, she got very angry and started talking about the 2008 boundary change. She was upset because she ended up with one child at Chantilly High and one child at Oakton High.”
Smith wasn’t surprised about the woman’s feelings because, she said, it was a divisive issue and some people still tell her how angry they are about it. But words are fine, she said.
“It’s OK for somebody to tell me they’re upset about a decision or to slam a door in my face,” she said. “You expect this when you’re an elected official.” But what happened Saturday was different. “It was surreal,” said Smith. “This is my fifth campaign — four times for School Board and once for supervisor — and nothing like this ever happened before.”
In light of the woman’s attitude, Smith immediately decided to leave when the resident began walking toward her. “In my hands, I had a clipboard, pen and [candidate-information] grip cards,” she said. “I was starting to walk down the driveway and, the next thing I knew, she grabbed my clipboard and threw it down on the driveway.”
While doing so, said Smith, the woman continued to vent her anger at her about the boundary change. So the candidate went to pick up her clipboard, pen and cards but, she said, the woman wouldn’t let her. Instead, said Smith, “She put her hands on my shoulders and started shoving me backwards. Then she started grabbing at my sunglasses, but I was able to turn my head and take them off so she couldn’t get them.”
“At some point, I told her, ‘It’s OK for you to disagree with me, but you can’t touch me,’” said Smith. “There was a tree and I balanced myself up against it and said, ‘Help, help me, help.’ I told her, ‘You need to stop touching me, or I’m going to call the police.’”
Smith was able to take out her cell phone; but, she said, the woman “grabbed it and threw it about 10 feet across the lawn. I was still yelling ‘Help’ and, luckily, a woman driving by stopped and asked what was happening. I told her this woman was attacking me, and she waited while I picked up my stuff.”
Smith then went to her car, across the street and about five houses away, and called the police. “I was thankful the woman drove by,” she said. Asked if she feared for her safety, Smith said, “I wasn’t frightened until she started shoving me; I was afraid she wasn’t going to stop.”
Afterward, she said, her chest felt tight and her shoulder was hurting, so the police called an ambulance and the paramedics checked her vital signs before she returned home. And Sunday afternoon, undaunted, she hit the campaign trail again.
“Mostly, people are good,” said Smith, before heading out. “And people who disagree with me don’t usually make me feel in danger. If people don’t want to engage with me, I just back away.”
So far, she said, she’s received a positive response from the residents she’s met while campaigning. But she’s not taking any chances. “One of my sons is going to walk with me today,” said Smith. “I’m going to get back out and meet voters because people do appreciate it when you talk with them. I think I’ll just take a companion with me from now on.”