Republican Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity announced plans Thursday to seek the county chairmanship, a position his father, Jack Herrity, held for a dozen years.
Herrity announced his intentions at his childhood home in Springfield, not far from where his opponent, Democratic supervisor Sharon Bulova, declared her candidacy a day before. The freshman Republican framed himself as a “go-to financial executive” with the budget acumen to lead the county out of its economic lurch.
The county, battered by a slumping housing market, faces a $500 million shortfall for the fiscal year beginning in July.
“We’re facing the most severe fiscal crisis that we have ever seen in Fairfax County, and more of the same won’t do,” he said.
The elder Herrity, who died in 2006, served on the board between 1972 and 1988, as chairman for all but four years. His name is among the most ubiquitous in the county, memorialized in both a major government center building and the Fairfax County Parkway.
Herrity on Thursday attempted to mitigate one of his biggest weaknesses — his inexperience on the board — by arguing that his private-sector resume trumps his opponent’s experience in government. Herrity, who is chief executive of telecommunications contractor Arrowhead Global Solutions, won election in 2007 to represent the Springfield District.
“There is a big difference between leading and accomplishing and just voting and attending,” he said.
Bulova, first elected in to the Braddock District seat in 1987, is the board’s budget chairwoman. She could not be reached Thursday.
