The politics in the Potomac District are heating up as two Democrats vie for their party’s nomination for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors seat.
Incumbent Andrea Bailey, in office since January 202o, announced her bid for re-election in 2023. She was part of the class that flipped control of the board from Republicans to Democrats for the first time in county history and replaced the long-serving Maureen Caddigan, who retired in 2019.
Bailey is campaigning on a new agreement between Quantico Marine Corps Base and the county that will allow Prince Willam public works staff to perform more basic maintenance and construction tasks aboard the Marine Corps base, allowing the base to complete projects sooner than it otherwise could, if it had to wade through the traditional Federal Government procurement process.
Bailey also touts the formation of a new crisis receiving center located in an old Gander Mountain store next to Potomac Mills mall. When open next year, the facility, now slated to cost $12 million, will provide police a place to take people suffering from temporary mental illness, allowing cops to return to the streets sooner vs. what they have been doing, babysitting mental illness cases for hours on end, during multiple shifts due to a lack of patient beds at hospitals.
County taxpayers will fund the first-year start-up costs while bureaucrats work with state leaders to find ongoing funding.
If elected to a new term, Bailey said she’ll be able to “finish the work of the people for Potomac [District] and the county.”
Bailey’s term on the board has been marked with controversy. Last year, Bailey’s husband, Prince William County NAACP Chairman Cozy Bailey, asked county police chief Peter Newsham to send a copy to the Dumfries home of a constituent who spoke during multiple public meetings in 2021, each time critical Bailey and three other Democrats on the Board of County Supervisors.
While Bailey declined to speak to PLN, her husband told WTTG-TV that his position on the police department’s Citizen’s Advisory Board gives him unique access to the police department’s top brass, unlike other county residents, and that he asked the chief to send the officer out of an abundance of caution for his wife.
Bailey also has supported bringing developing land next to two National Parks for new data centers — Manassas Battlefield and Prince William Forest. It’s unpopular with environmentalists who want to preserve open space and protect the county’s water reservoirs. Others say data centers will bring more money for police, fire and rescue, and public schools.
Kim Short is challenging Bailey for the seat in Primary Election. It’s unclear what nominating contest Democrats will hold to determine their candidate.
Short is a retired Lt. Colonel who spent 25 years in the Army and worked as a health officer combating viruses like swine flu, Zika, and Ebola, and sits on the OmniRide Board of Commissioners with Bailey as an alternate.
If elected, Short said she’ll push for more government accountability at the local government, more public safety spending, using her military health background to build a stronger, healthier community, and championing community issues that bring Democrats and Republicans to the table. Short told PLN she’s ready for a political fight.
“I’m a leader. I am a professional soldier who fought battles and opponents. I don’t fear what appears in front of me,” Short told PLN in an August 2022 interview.
Caddigan held the Potomac District seat (formerly Dumfries District) for nearly 20 years. A past school board member, Caddigan was a well-known political figure while the county experienced its building boom in the 1980s and 1990s.
With the country’s population topping 700,000, Democrats have a solid hold on the Potomac District. In 2019, Bailey defeated her Republican opponent Doug Taggart in a landside 28-point victory.
Republicans won two of the 15 precincts in the Potomac District in 2019.
The Potomac District includes Dumfries and Quantico towns, Potomac Shores, and a portion of Montclair.
