Gibson Running Again, Starts Drive to Unseat Gerry Connolly in November

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Mark Gibson will run again for the 11th Congressional District that includes portions of Prince William and Fairfax counties.

An independent, this will be Gibson’s second run at unseating Democrat Gerry Connolly whose been in office since 2009.

More in a press release:

Mark Gibson, an independent candidate for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District (VA-11), began his ballot petition drive today, the first day permissible under Virginia law. Gibson finished the 2012 election with the most votes among non-major party candidates; he says voter encouragement and an underperforming Congress prompted him to run again.

“I received a lot of compliments and inspiration from voters after the last election,” Gibson said, “and the dissatisfaction with Congress and the major parties is at least equal to that of 2012. More and more voters identify themselves as independents. I hope to build on the attention independent voters gained in the last election.”

Gibson will need to collect 1,500 signatures from 11th District voters by early June.

Though the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) has not yet finalized its candidate information bulletins for 2014, all forms and rules from the 2012 election remain valid through July 1, 2012. In addition to presenting ballot petitions to SBE, Gibson will submit completed forms for his declaration of candidacy and certification of candidate qualification. Filings to the Federal Election Commission and U.S. House Committee on Ethics will follow along with the establishment of a principal campaign committee.

Gibson has lived in Fairfax County since 1997. He serves as CEO of an IT firm. He is a native of the Washington, D.C. area.

During the last campaign cycle, Gibson worked to get out the vote early by announcing his campaign in April 2012.

Voters will head to the polls again in November.