Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity is the lone Republican on the Board of Supervisors – something he sees as an advantage for him in his campaign for lieutenant governor.
He comes from a political family, his dad served as the chair of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, which Herrity says initially turned him off from politics.
“I always swore I’d never run for public office,” he said during an interview in January. “I spent a lot of time as a business leader and a sports leader in our community in Northern Virginia, but the county was heading in the wrong direction in 2007 so I decided to run.”
He said he learned a lot watching his dad when he served on the Board in Herrity in the 70s and 80s. “I grew up with the issues of Fairfax around the kitchen table. I fell asleep at a few budget committee meetings.”
Herrity has never been in the majority during his time serving on the Board and he says that makes him legislate with common sense in order to get anything done.
He says he has led on pension reform, leading the charge against raising the meals tax in Fairfax, and providing more funding for police.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin lost Fairfax County by more than 130,000 votes in 2021, but Herrity won reelection in 2023 by 11 points.
“I think what people want out of elected officials are common sense solutions to their everyday problems,” Herrity said. “That’s where I stay focused, and that’s how I’ve been able to be reelected despite being in a very heavily Democratic jurisdiction.”
Herrity says that his ability to bring Northern Virginia voters, an area of the commonwealth that typically votes in favor of Democrats, out in support of Republicans is the reason he should be the nominee.
“I know how to speak to residents in a way that Republicans haven’t always been able to, and I’m going to focus on issues, frankly, that are solutions to everyday problems,” he said.
Virginia often elects statewide candidates who are opposite of the party in the White House, but Herrity says Virginia showed a shift in 2024 back towards Republicans, with Donald Trump losing the commonwealth by six points compared to his 10-point loss in 2020.
He wants Republicans to talk about how Virginia has changed under Youngkin’s administration on the campaign trail this year.
“I think our challenge will be to show them how much better off they have been in the last four years than they were in the previous four years,” he said.
Outside of the two constitutional responsibilities of presiding over the Senate and casting tie breaking votes, Herrity says his priorities would be advocating for affordability, public safety and education.
In addition to Herrity, John Reid and John Curran are seeking the Republican nomination to run for lieutenant governor.
Several Democrats, and one Independent, Marlow Jones, are also running.
Herrity announced Friday that he recently had heart surgery, sidelining him from the campaign trail for a few weeks.
Nominees will be chosen by a primary on June 17.