Jack Dobbyn Kicks Off Campaign

Jack Dobbyn has his work cut out for him if he wants to defeat Del. Dave Albo (R-42) in November. 

"This campaign is winnable. We can beat Dave Albo," said Dobbyn, a Democrat, on Sunday to supporters at his campaign kickoff at Cardinal Forest Elementary School in Springfield. "A lot of people are apathetic about the chances to beat Dave Albo. I'm not."

Can Dobbyn, president of the Fairfax County Young Democrats, defeat the 17-year incumbent? As of June 30th, his campaign had $21,810 in the bank versus $72,905 for Albo.

In 2009, Albo defeated Democratic challenger Gregory Werkheiser by 11,767 votes to 9,006 votes in the most expensive delegate's race in Virginia's history. Albo raised and spent $927,217, and Werkheiser raised $781,828, of which $235,000 was contributed by the Democratic House of Delegates’ caucus and $194,889 by the Democratic Party of Virginia. 

The Democratic Party of Virginia has yet to donate to Dobbyn's campaign. 

The 30-year-old candidate is currently a vice president for his family's company, Dyan Dobbyn & Associates. "Growing up here, I realized that we have it so well and… the quality of life is being threatened by people like Dave Albo down in Richmond, people who view teachers as overpaid and underworked, people who beat the drum for [Virginia Attorney General] Ken Cuccinelli and want to bring us back to the Stone Age," Dobbyn said. "Dave Albo and his cohorts down in Richmond have really made a career out of driving us apart…[and are] more interested in pandering to the Tea Party than they are in bringing solutions to us here in Fairfax County."

Republicans control the House of Delegates 59 seats to 39 Democratic seats and two Independent seats. "Taking back the House of Delegates is something that is absolutely critical to Virginia's future," Virginia State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37) said at the event. "We cannot do this without holding all the levers of influence down in Richmond and this is the start - taking back this district. Fairfax County will eventually be back to an all-blue county."

Delegate Charniele Herring (D-46) met Dobbyn a month ago. "The caucus told me that I had been paired with him, that I am his mentor throughout his campaign. The reason is that I grew up here and attended West Springfield High School. And I can tell you something I learned about Jack in that month: He's not actually running to be somebody, but to do something," she said. 

Republican control of the House has left its toll on Fairfax County, said Sharon Bulova, chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. "I'm looking around at the roads, I'm looking down at the sidewalks and medians and I don't like what I'm seeing," she said. "Something's not getting done and the body that is supposed to be getting those things done is the State and the General Assembly is responsible for making sure that we have the resources here in Northern Virginia and in Fairfax County to make sure that we look like we're being maintained, and that's not happening.

"[With Dobbyn] we have someone who is enthusiastic, someone who doesn't know the meaning of 'Well, we haven't been able to do it, we don't have enough money.' He doesn't know that. What's more, he knows that that's not ok."   

Dobbyn cited transportation and education as top priorities. "Our legislature was the home of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and now they're spending their time on things like a ban on stem cell research... on things like denying funding for Planned Parenthood," he said. "The solutions that we need are better roads. Twenty-two percent of the all of the secondary roads in Fairfax County and Virginia have been judged by VDOT [Virginia Department of Transportation] to be in either very poor or poor condition. That's unacceptable."