Fairfax County voters will determine the successor to Democrat Dave Marsden in the House of Delegates Tuesday in a special election that could set the tone for the upcoming election season.
Marsden was elected to the state Senate in January, strengthening what had been a one-vote Democratic majority in the chamber. That victory represented a rare bright spot for a party that took a beating in the general elections two months before.
Voters in the 41st House District will choose between Democrat Eileen Filler-Corn, an adviser to the Kaine and Warner administrations, and Kerry Bolognese, a higher-education association executive who came close to unseating Marsden in 2009.
Virginia’s special election
Poll hours: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Eligible voters: 49,869
Number of precincts voting: 14
Democrat: Eileen Filler-Corn
Republican: Kerry Bolognese
For more information go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/eb/
A Filler-Corn win would be hailed by Virginia Democrats as proof they have finally found their footing. A Bolognese victory would increase an already powerful GOP House majority and underscore the party’s strength in the once reliably blue D.C. suburbs.
Bolognese, like Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell during his campaign, has placed a heavy emphasis on opposing the aims of a Democratic Congress. He said he is “very concerned about the overreach of the federal government,” as well as excessive spending in Richmond.
“A lot of what happen in Washington affects the states,” Bolognese said. “Take for example the health bill proposal, that’s going to pack a lot more people into Medicaid and they’re going to shove the cost of that onto the shoulders of the state.”
Marsden, who is campaigning for Filler-Corn, said her victory would show that attacking the Obama administration is no longer a viable local campaign strategy.
“You need to be careful in these elections to go to the same well too many times,” he said. “While it was effective back in November, it was not effective in my race, and I think will probably be less effective now.”
