Prince William School Board Chair announces bid for Lt. Governor

Fresh off a win for a second term as Prince William County School Board Chairman, Dr. Babur Lateef announced his campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia today.

Lateef, an ophthalmologist in Woodbridge and a Democrat, is seeking his party’s nomination for Lt. Governor, a position now held by Republican Winsome Sears.

Lateef announced his candidacy in a video, highlighted his service as both a doctor and Chairman of the school board, and enumerated the many accomplishments of the Prince William County school system. Dr. Lateef called particular attention to the public’s vital role in shaping policy by celebrating the Public Comments portion of every school board meeting as “one of the few places where citizens are guaranteed the right to speak directly to their elected representatives.”

Since the pandemic, the Board’s public comment policy has been the subject of debate. The board has moved to limit the number of speakers who may address the board and cap the length of time during which residents may speak.

Over the last year, the school board has capped the number of public speakers, and Prince William Education Association members of the teachers union have monopolized the spots, urging the School Board to adopt a collective bargaining agreement for higher pay.

“The challenges we face are now in Richmond,” Dr. Lateef says in the video. Glenn Youngkin has done real harm to the spirit of partnership within our communities.”

Lateef’s dig on Youngkin comes as 53% of Virginians approve of how Youngkin is handling his job as governor, according to a Roanoke College poll.

“I believe the rhetoric he uses when he speaks about schools, school divisions, and school boards are not helpful. His representation that boards don’t listen to parents is completely off base,” Lateef told Potomac Local News. “I am a parent, and I have been Chair for six years. And every move our board and most boards make is responsive to their local families, students, and staff. That has been my record. Parents know I listen to them and know that they matter to me. The evidence is that they have re-elected me with wider margins each time.

Lateef beat Carrie Rest, his Republican-endorsed challenger in 2023, by 10 points, winning 50% of the vote across Prince William County. He won in 2019 by nearly the same margin, beating the Republican-endorsed Allison Satterwhite, who served on the county School Board.

In each race, Lateef handily outspent his opponents. Last year, Lateef spent $263,000 to Rist’s $39,297. In 2019, he spent $131,000 to Satterwhite’s $31,000.

Lateef was appointed School Board chair in 2018 to replace Ryan Sawyers, who resigned. He later won a special election to complete Sawyer’s term, beating Satterwhite and Stanley Bender, who never campaigned for the job.

Lateef took heat from fellow School Board members and other Democrats when, in December 2020, he ordered the return of some students to the classroom when most other public school systems in the Washington, D.C. area were still requiring students to work remotely.

Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam was the first in the nation to shutter public schools in light of the coronavirus in March 2020. Lateef told Potomac Local Northam that it was correct to close schools at the onset of the pandemic but added that schools should have been reopened by the summer of 2020.

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe endorsed Dr. Lateef today.

“I am honored to be Dr. Babur Lateef’s first endorser for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “I have called upon his counsel many times over the last 15 years. I saw how Babur fought the backward policies of the Prince William County Supervisors in 2011 when few others stood up. Babur helped ensure his County turned blue from top to bottom in 2019,” states McAuliffe in a press release.

McAuliffe lost his re-election bid for a second, nonconsecutive term as governor to Youngkin in 2021 by two percentage points.

Lateef is the first and only person to announce his run for the seat for the 2025 General Election. Meanwhile, Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va. 7th), and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, a Democrat, have announced her run for governor to replace Youngkin, who cannot seek a second term.

So far, no Republicans have announced their intentions for statewide office. However, all eyes are on Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares, both considered potential gubernatorial candidates.

Lateef considered a run for Lt. Governor in 2020; however, decoded to stay out of the race to focus on his school board duties.