Qarni to run for 29th district Senate seat

Atif Qarni, a teacher in Prince William County and a veteran, has decided to run for the 29th District Senate seat currently held by Senator Chuck Colgan.

Colgan has made the decision to retire, after almost 40 years in his seat.

Qarni previously ran for Delegate Bob Marshall’s seat back in 2013 and lost by a slim margin of votes.

Before working as a teacher in Dale City at Beville Middle School for six years, he served in the Marine Corps for eight years. He has his Master’s degree from George Mason University. Qarni currently lives in Manassas with his wife and two children.

During his candidacy, Qarni has three main issues he hopes to address – education, transportation and strengthening small businesses.

“I want to restore the funding for public education. With the transportation bill that was passed, the state is looking at where to invest money – I want to really fight for those dollars to be focused on Prince William County – really fixing some of the infrastructure issues that we have,” Qarni said.

According to Qarni, the way to deal with the growing issue of residents having to leave the area to find jobs is by investing in small businesses.

“A lot of people are leaving the county – I want to bring jobs back to the county – and I think that the best way to do that is really strengthening our small businesses,” said Qarni.

Governor McAuliffe appointed Qarni to the Small Business Commission. He is also the chair of the Teacher’s Caucus for the Prince William County Democrats.

While he did not win the delegate race against Marshall, Qarni stated that the race taught him things that he will bring into this Senate race.

“I had a good grasp of running prior to [the delegate race], but I feel that I’m even stronger in that area. I can really represent the concerns the folks have in our district,” Qarni commented.

Qarni feels that he and Colgan share some core values that will allow him to continue that political legacy.

“Senator Colgan has done a lot for our district – with his 40 years of service, especially with the community colleges…and I’m big on education. So one of my hopes is to really continue in that regard, but focus more on K-12 education,” said Qarni.

Before entering the general election race, Qarni will have to primary against two other Democratic candidates – Delegate Michael Futrell and former delegate candidate Jeremy McPike.

“What sets me apart [from the other primary candidates] is my service background. With my military service, having served my country for eight years, and having gone to combat in Iraq…and my service as a teacher. I understand this district better than anybody.”

The primary will take place on June 9.

Qarni mentioned during his interview that he felt a candidate forum with Futrell and McPike would be an appropriate venue for voters to assess the candidates.