As soon as one election ends, another cycle begins
Last week's election results have triggered at least one more round of special elections in Fairfax County.
State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R) of Centreville was elected as the next attorney general, leaving his 37th District Senate seat up for grabs. And Fairfax County School Board member Laura Kaye Kory (Mason) was elected to replace Del. Robert Hull in the House of Delegates.
It is not clear yet when the special elections to fill those seats will be held, or even if they will be scheduled for the same day, according to Judy Flaig, Fairfax County election manager.
After the State Board of Elections certifies the election results Nov. 23, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) can set the special election date for the Senate seat. It is likely that the election would be held before the new General Assembly begins Jan. 12.
For the school board seat, the school board attorney petitions the court to set a special election date, a request that is typically granted, Flaig said.
There are candidates emerging for both seats. Two Republicans have announced their intention to run for the open Senate seat.
Fairfax Station resident Steve Hunt, a former at-large school board member, began campaigning for the seat in late October. Hunt, a retired Navy officer who works at SAIC, narrowly lost his re-election bid for the countywide school board seat in 2007.
He will face a nomination battle with two other Republican candidates, neither of whom has held elected office: Marianne Horinko of Chantilly, a small business owner who served as assistant administrator and acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during President George W. Bush's first term, and Will Nance, executive director of the Greenspring Village retirement community in Springfield.
No Democrats have officially declared their candidacy for the 37th District seat. Former school board member Janet Oleszek, who challenged Cuccinnelli in 2007, told The Washington Post that she is not running again at the request of party leadership. Del. David W. Marsden (D-Dist. 41) of Burke is rumored to be mulling a run; however, he does not currently live in that Senate district.
For the school board seat, former special education teacher Herb Smith announced his candidacy on Monday. Smith left teaching to work as a field organizer with Falls Church for Obama in 2008.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported Smith worked a field director for Obama. He was a field organizer.



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