Fairfax County Board Chairman Sharon Bulova (D) kicked off her re-election campaign Sunday night with a golly-gee kind of a speech worthy of a “Leave it to Beaver” episode.
The themes played to Fairfax’s reliable base: generally liberal, but with a healthy – or maybe slightly smug – appreciation of Virginia’s reputation for fiscal restraint, compared to its neighbors in Maryland and the District.
Bulova, who became chairman in 2009 after winning a countywide special election by a hair, cited her successes in “education, energy efficiency, environmental stewardship, affordable housing, mixed use development, and growth of the hospitality industry.”
She brought up the dreary recession only to say that Fairfax barreled through it while protecting tax rates, the schools, community safety and economic development.
She gave a shout-out to each of her six Democrat allies on the 10-member board. And she snuck in a pat on her own back, mentioning that Fairfax has been acknowledged as “The Best Managed County of its size in the U.S,” an honor bestowed by Governing Magazine.
Her competition thus far is limited to Michael “Spike” Williams, a small businessman backed by the county Republicans. The election is in November, alongside races for all county supervisor seats and the school board.
