Connolly offers 'practical perspective'
By Layla Wilder
Whether the issue is affordable housing, the environment or Metrorail to Dulles, Gerry Connolly is dogged about what he believes, colleagues on both sides of the aisle say.The chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is one of the front-runners for the 11th Congressional District seat being vacated by the GOP's Tom Davis.
“His commitment to issues and people are very strong,” Fairfax County Vice Chairman Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock) said.
Connolly, a Democrat and 13-year member of the county board, is running against Iraq war veteran Doug Denneny, former Congresswoman Leslie Byrne and therapist Lori Alexander.
The winner of the June 10 Democratic primary will face Keith Fimian, an accountant and the only Republican candidate who filed to represent the district encompassing parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties.
Connolly, 58, says he decided to try for the seat shortly after being re-elected as county chairman last November, in the hope of using his experience on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and county board.
“There isn't enough local and practical perspective in federal government,” he said.
“He is stubborn,” said Elaine McConnell, a Republican and a 24-year member of the board who retired last year. “But that is not a criticism because I'm the same way,” she said, adding she considers Connolly a friend and a capable leader.
Connolly and his wife Cathy moved to Fairfax County in 1979 and have a teenage daughter, Caitlin Rose. They now live in the Providence District, where Gerry Connolly served as president of the Mantua Citizens Association. He says he sought the position after he was inspired by former Congresswoman Ella Grasso's famous quote: “Bloom where you are planted.”
Dealing with an oil spill in Mantua made Connolly realize citizens get little help from the state and federal governments, and the experience played a role in his decision to run for Providence District supervisor.
On the board, Connolly has advocated creating more affordable housing, preventing gang activity, and improving education and the environment.
If elected to Congress, he would oppose unfunded mandates in the schools, work to lower health care costs and fight to end the Iraq war, he said.
Announcing his bid for Congress Feb. 14, Connolly said getting things done is the “ethos” he wants to take to Congress.
In order to win the primary, Connolly will have to make his message appealing to voters outside his county. About a third of 11th District voters are in Prince William County.
Ultimately, any Democratic candidate will have to work hard to attract voters in that Republican-leaning county, said George Burke, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.
The first time Connolly ran for chairman he faced Mychele Brickner, a Republican and former member of the school board, winning by almost 60 percent of the votes. Connolly beat Republican lawyer Gary Baise last November by almost the same number – a victory he has repeatedly called a “powerful affirmation of his policy.”
Connolly received a bachelor's degree in literature from Maryknoll College and a master's in public administration from Harvard University.
He now works at SAIC as the region's director of Community Relations.
“I felt that this is a moment in time when I have something to contribute. I didn't want to pass that up,” Connolly said.