Dudenhefer: PWC, Stafford Share Common Problems

North Stafford, Va. –– He described it like a summer afternoon in his native Louisiana, where hot days give way afternoon storms that bring heavy rain.

But as showers cleared, from a soggy tent Saturday afternoon at the Quantico Corporate Center in North Stafford, that county’s top elected official announced he is seeking a promotion. Mark Dudenhefer wants to be the next member of Virginia’s House of Delegates in the 2nd District, filling a seat that was shifted this spring to the Potomac Communities from Southwest Virginia during the decennial redistricting process.

Serving on Stafford’s Board of Supervisors since 2006 and its chairman since 2010, the Republican noted he helped to pass the county’s first comprehensive development plan in the past 22-years and brought civility back to a Board once rife with arguments between Board members.

“I entered [politics] following a long military career because of a dreadful family tragedy. It created in me a passion in me to serve in a different way to make life better for my friends, family and neighbors and most of all to direct my energy to making our roads safe,” said Dudenhefer.

His youngest daughter, Emily, was killed in a car crash on a two-lane road Stafford County prior to his first term on the Board. It pushed him to run for public office, and on Saturday, he said fixing the region’s transportation problems remains a personal goal.

In addition to widening Stafford’s many two-lane roads, also touted widening Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. 1) from four to six lanes from the Occoquan River in Woodbridge to Garrisonville Road (Va. 610) in North Stafford, expanding service on Virginia Railway Express and allowing drivers to access what will be Interstate 95’s High Occupancy Toll lanes from Dumfries Road (Va. 234) when construction is scheduled to begin as soon as next year.

In addition to Dudenhefer’s Republican-learning home turf of North Stafford, the 2nd House District also includes many democratic precincts in Prince William County east of U.S. 1 like Potomac, Swans Creek and Featherstone which in 2009 voted against Gov. Robert F. McDonnell who beat out his democratic opponent with nearly 60 percent of the vote statewide.

Right now, the Dudenhefer is running unopposed but says he may face a democratic challenger, as well as a Republican challenger that would force a primary.

“I want to assure the people of both eastern Prince William and northern Stafford counties that if elected I will represent the interests of all who reside inside these boundaries. We share common problems, common interests and common values,” said Dudenhefer.