Peter Candland is vying to keep his seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

He’s spent seven years on the Board and has made a reputation of arguing for conservative principals, evoking the “advocating for the taxpayer” in many of his arguments on the dias.

Find your polling place for the May 4, 2019, Republican Firehouse Primary

Find your polling place for the Nov. 5, 2019, General Election 

Name: Peter Candland

Party: Republican

Town: Catharpin

Running for: Gainesville District Supervisor, Prince William County Board of Supervisors

Website: Facebook 

Work: Owner of Consulting Company

Education: Brigham Young University for undergraduate and Marymount University for MBA

Community Involvement: With the ever-increasing expansion of government and burdensome tax rates on the citizens of Prince William County and small businesses, I have worked for the past seven years bringing greater accountability to our County government.

I have been an advocate for promoting reforms to make the County government more efficient, to spend our tax dollars wisely, to keep taxes as low as possible, and to limit the scope of government to the core services it should provide to its citizens. Outside of serving on the Board of County Supervisors, I’m involved in the activities of my four kids – coaching basketball, attending games, and supporting school events.

Questions and answers

PL: What are the top three major issues facing the district you wish to represent? 

Candland: Traffic gridlock on I-66, over-crowded schools with underpaid teachers, and protecting our rural areas to stop overdevelopment

PL: What concrete solutions do you propose to address these issues?

Candland: We must immediately address the issue on Rt. 28 and begin working on the Tri-County Parkway. This will help relieve pressure on I-66 and reduce traffic on our secondary roads. We must continue to improve are economic development efforts to not only attract new job opportunities that match the skills of the workforce that currently commutes out of the county the job centers in Fairfax County and East towards Washington D.C., but also make it easier for businesses currently located in the County to expand.

The Board of County Supervisors has taken significant steps over the last seven years to improve the business climate in the county while reducing the red-tape that businesses face. There is a great need to redirect more public funding to our schools.

Over the last few years, I introduced and successfully past the class size reduction grant and over $20 million to expand the new western high school and invest more in several eastern elementary schools. But there are also deep and well-founded concerns about the accountability of the school administration and the School Board in their budgeting of the current 57.23% of general County revenues that they receive each year under a revenue-sharing agreement with the schools.

Prince William County is one of only a couple of localities that have this antiquated system of funding schools. As a result, it has led us to the situation we face today with overcrowded schools and underpaid teachers. Because the Revenue Sharing Agreement just allocates a certain percentage each year to the school system, the Schools develop their budget based on that percentage, not on actual needs. As a result, we have dug a hole that will take us a good amount of time and investment to get out.

I strongly support the repeal of the revenue sharing agreement that will force the School Board and Board of County Supervisors to be accountable for every dime of taxpayer money that is spent for the education of our children.

We must continue to protect the Rural Crescent, stop flooding the market with tax negative homes, and redo the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Developing the Rural Crescent (an area of rural land from Quantico Marine Corps Base to Manassas National Battlefield) would dramatically increase our traffic and school overcrowding issues. The Board of County Supervisors must stop approving every housing application that comes before the Board and allow our infrastructure time to catch-up.

PL: From your perspective, what is the job description of the office you’re seeking?

Candland: Serving on the Board of County Supervisors requires the person serving in that office to balance the needs of the Magisterial District he or she represents with the needs and priorities of the entire county. That individual must be an advocate for the taxpayers against a system that allows for enormous power to be held by a few in County government, both in the formulation of each fiscal year budget and in the day-to-day management of the programs that impact the quality of life of every citizen in Prince William County.

I believe that the Gainesville Supervisor has a duty to speak for the citizens who elected him or her, and that person is not an advocate for county government. The County Executive and the county staff are well prepared and have legions of people who work for them who could adequately defend the interests of county government.

My job, and that if any member of the Board of County Supervisors is to act in the best interests of the taxpayers and the citizens that each of us represents.

PL: What expertise will you bring to the office?

Candland: I am a taxpayer, a parent of children who are being educated in the Prince William County school system, a citizen who expects to have a quality community in which to live and an advocate for limited government and responsible spending of taxpayer funds.

I have seven years of experience as a member of the Board of County Supervisors, I have a significant amount of experience in the private sector with budgeting and personnel management, and I have an MBA that is afforded me an understanding of the technical aspects of the operations of business entities and, in large measure, county government.

Most importantly, I bring a passion for improving the quality of life here in Prince William County for every family who lives here.

PL: Do you feel that the average citizen is well-informed and understands the workings of local government?

Candland: The average citizen in Prince William County is probably not as informed as they would like to be, but the constraints that were imposed by a poorly planned and implemented transportation system takes most wage earners away from their families for substantial amounts of time every day as they commute to their workplace on heavily congested roadways account for much of that lack of involvement.

In an ideal world, there would be more time for every family to be more engaged and involved in county government and in their communities. Sadly, that is not the case.

My primary responsibility as a member of the Board of County Supervisors from the Gainesville District is to do all that I can to communicate with my constituents to let them know what I’ve learned about county government; what proposals I am making to fix the problems that have been identified; and the votes that I’m making on their behalf that influences an impact on the quality of life that they enjoy.

I have opened the annual budgeting process to volunteers in the community who bring their personal expertise and experience to the development of an alternative budget for consideration by the Board of County Supervisors. That Budget Committee has had, in my judgment, a substantial influence on the budgeting decisions it’d been made over the past for budget cycles.

I also hold regular Town Hall meetings to inform my constituents and to gather their input on public policy issues. I couple that with regular Tele-Town Hall meetings where hundreds of citizens are able to join in a conference call where significant issues of public policy are discussed and questions are raised about the direction of Prince William County government.

Finally, I produce regular newsletters to them for my constituents but issues that I think they should be aware of that are going on in Prince William County.

PL: Have you ever made any mistakes in your public life? How have they affected you?

Candland: The biggest mistake that I can say I have made in my public life was the belief that individuals who hold positions of public trust would be, themselves, trustworthy. I have learned through sad experience that that is not the case.

I have found that it is necessary to invoke the infamous Reagan Doctrine of “trust, but verify” with many county officials whom I deal with. While these experiences have been disappointing, I have learned that it is my obligation as a public official to act in every instance in the best interest of the people who elected me, and I cannot rely upon others who may take advantage of my trust for their own benefit and to the detriment of my constituents.

PL: Our readers want leaders in local government. Why should they vote for you?

Candland: I have developed a track record over the last seven years that will allow every voter to assess whether I have lived up to the commitments that I made to them when I first ran that I would fight to keep their taxes as low as possible; improve our community parks; invest more in education; and fight to protect every tax dollar that is spent to assure that it is spent wisely.

I believe that I am more prepared than ever to be a strong advocate for the citizens of the Gainesville District, and every citizen in Prince William County, in making decisions that impact the quality of life of our families.

I commit to bring my experience and my passion to every Board meeting and pledge my fidelity to the commitments I have made to voters in every vote I am called upon to make as a member of the Board of County Supervisors.

I remain committed to set consistently high standards for the way that county government operates, and I accept the responsibility that every elected official should adhere to that, if they want to be a leader, then they must be willing to lead.

Devon Gray is running for the Republican nomination to be the next Potomac District Supervisor on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.

He will face fellow Republican Douglas “Doug” Taggart in a “firehouse primary” election on May 4, 2019.

Current Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan will not seek re-election to the seat.

Andrea Bailey, a Democrat, is making a second run at the seat this year.

Find your polling place for the May 4, 2019, Republican Firehouse Primary

Find your polling place for the Nov. 5, 2019, General Election 

Name: Davon Gray

Party: Republican

Town: Prince William County

Running for: Potomac District Supervisor, Prince William County Board of Supervisors

Website: grayforsupervisor.com

Work: Senior Director of Political Affairs

Education: University of Southern Mississippi

Community Involvement: Ordained Minister – Grace Church; Prince William County Board of Equalization; Prince William County Police Citizens Advisory Board.

Questions and answers

PL: What are the top three major issues facing the district you wish to represent? 

Gray: Transportation, Education, Public Safety

PL: What concrete solutions do you propose to address these issues?

Gray: Transportation – Focused on funding issues; Education – focused on student outcomes and teacher pay; Public safety – focused on community policing and officer pay.

PL: From your perspective, what is the job description of the office you’re seeking?

Gray: Members of the Board of Supervisors primarily oversee the budget affairs and has certain legislative, executive and some judiciary powers over the affairs of Prince William County.

PL: What expertise will you bring to the office?

Gray: Dedication to serving my community, over 23 years working in political and legislative affairs and an understanding of how to engage and work toward solutions on legislative matters.

PL: Do you feel that the average citizen is well-informed and understands the workings of local government?

Gray: Not all the times. People have very busy lives, especially in this area so it is hard to keep track of what’s going on with their local government. I propose to have a community approach similar to our current supervisor. This means keeping in constant contacts with our church communities, civic organizations, and homeowners associations.

PL: Have you ever made any mistakes in your public life? How have they affected you?

Gray: No mistakes that I can think of.

PL: Our readers want leaders in local government. Why should they vote for you?

Gray: I believe they should vote for me because my approach is to always work toward solutions that matter. This starts with listening to what our citizens are talking about, what’s keeping business owners up at night and what are the challenges we see coming 10 years down the road. That is the way that I think and the way that I believe our local government should approach many of the concerns we have, especially when addressing our growth challenges as the second largest county in the state.

Douglas “Doug” Taggart is running for the Republican nomination to be the next Potomac District Supervisor on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.

He will face fellow Republican Devon Gray in a “firehouse primary” election on May 4, 2019.

Current Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan will not seek re-election to the seat.

Andrea Bailey, a Democrat, is making a second run at the seat this year.

Find your polling place for the May 4, 2019, Republican Firehouse Primary

Find your polling place for the Nov. 5, 2019, General Election

Name: Douglas “Doug” Taggart 

Party: Republican

Town: Dumfries

Running for: Potomac District Supervisor, Prince William County Board of Supervisors

Website: dtaggartforsupervisor.com

Work: President of a small business

Education: US Coast Guard Academy (BSEE) & Purdue University (MSEE)

Community Involvement: Board Member Montclair Property Owners Association (1997-present), President & CEO Azalea Charities, Inc. (1999-present), Montclair Lions Club (1995 – present), Hylton High School Crew Boosters President (1996-2000), Prince William County Industry Development Authority (Jan 2019 – present)

Questions and answers

PL: What are the top three major issues facing the district you wish to represent? 

Taggart: Transportation, schools, and jobs.

PL: What concrete solutions do you propose to address these issues?

Taggart: I will take good ideas from wherever they originate, listen with an open mind to opposing views, and work cooperatively with other members of the Board of Supervisors to advance smart and judicious ideas that will benefit all of us.

PL: From your perspective, what is the job description of the office you’re seeking?

Taggart: Represent constituents at the local government level in the development and approval of annual budgets; conduct legislative activities impacting the county; (ordinances, tax rates, appointments); manage the development of land-use plans, coordinate with other governmental activities impacting Prince William County.

PL: What expertise will you bring to the office?

Taggart: As an engineer, I appreciate the complexity of issues. I enjoy the challenge of thinking of ways to make things work better and paying attention to detail. I bring to the job 22 years of serving as a Board member on the Montclair Property Owners Association. In addition, I have 20+ years serving as a U.S. Coast Guard officer and an additional 10+ years serving as the President & CEO of a small business providing professional engineering and technical services to the Department of Defense. These management duties have prepared me well for the challenges of working with a broad spectrum of issues as a member of the Board of County Supervisors for Prince William County.

PL: Do you feel that the average citizen is well-informed and understands the workings of local government?

Taggart: From August 2005 to August 2006, I applied for and was accepted as a Congressional Science and Engineering fellow serving on the staff of a member of Congress during the second session of the 109th Congress. The fellowship program (I was 1 of 30 total fellows selected that year) was coordinated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). One of the key takeaways I had from that experience was that when constituents speak, you need to listen as those that take the time to make an inquiry know the issues and have strong feelings on those issues.

PL: Have you ever made any mistakes in your public life? How have they affected you?

Taggart: I have not made any mistakes in my public life but rather I would suggest that I have been very fortunate in my life experiences and believe that my educational background, my community service activities, and the support of my family have prepared me well to continue to serve as a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.

PL: Our readers want leaders in local government. Why should they vote for you?

Taggart: My leadership experiences are founded on my years as a Coast Guard Officer, a Small Business President and CEO, the President & CEO of a non-profit organization (Azalea Charities, Inc.) that raises funds to support a dual mission (Aid for Wounded Warriors and youth and special needs projects in our local Northern Virginia area). I ask people to consider voting for me because I will promise to listen with an open mind to the advice and ideas of the business leaders, parents, students, teachers, first responders, and all those who comprise the backbone of our community to make Prince William County an even greater place to live, work, and do business.

MANASSAS – (Press Release) Kelly McGinn, a Manassas mom, advocate, and community leader, has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 13th House District, which encompasses parts of Prince William County and the City of Manassas Park.

“Richmond has been in the national headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2019. I’m running for Delegate to be your voice for common sense leadership. I want to represent the 13th District to make it the best place to live and work in Virginia,” said McGinn.

“We need a leader who will work to find creative solutions to problems that affect everyday life in Prince William County and Manassas Park. Like many of you, I’m tired of sitting in gridlock on Route 28 for hours each day.  I’ll work with state and local leaders to ensure our community gets the transportation funding necessary to address this traffic nightmare.  I’m also eager to work on issues like improving educational opportunities for our young people, promoting public safety by cracking down on gangs, human trafficking, and opioids, and promoting the growth of small business and new job opportunities for our citizens. If elected to represent you, I pledge to listen to your concerns and make sure that government works for you and not the other way around.”

Kelly is a summa cum laude graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service where she studied International Politics and spent her Junior Year at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.  After earning her law degree at the University of Virginia Law School, Kelly practiced international trade and communications law in Washington, D.C. for several years and also provided pro bono legal assistance to clients seeking political asylum.

She left private law practice to join the staff of Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas as his Senior Counsel for International Human Rights.  In that position, Kelly was privileged to fight on behalf of political prisoners and those suffering abuse and torture at the hands of regimes like North Korea and Sudan.

Kelly and her husband are the parents of four children.  She chose to become a full-time mother when they adopted their oldest child sixteen years ago.  When she is not driving her minivan around the Manassas area, she is an outspoken advocate for children and the economically disadvantaged in our community.  Kelly looks forward to bringing the same passion with which she has approached raising her family and fighting for International human rights to attacking local problems and improving the quality of life for the people of the 13th House District in the Virginia General Assembly.

CENTREVILLE – (Press Release) Delegate Tim Hugo rallied with supporters as he officially kicked off his re-election bid for the House of Delegates in Virginia’s 40th district.

“I am running for re-election because our communities deserve results not rhetoric,” said Hugo. “As your delegate, my focus has always been and will continue to be improving the everyday lives of Virginians. From passing legislation to protect our children from the opioid crisis and human trafficking to fixing our roads and improving our schools, we have accomplished a lot. I am running to continue the important work we’ve started.”

Hugo is the current Delegate for Virginia’s 40th district and the Majority Caucus Chairman. Born and raised in Virginia, he is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and the Senior Managers in Government Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

A leader on transportation issues, he previously served as the Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Today, Hugo lives in Clifton with his wife and their four children.

MANASSAS – (Press Release) Manassas attorney Tim Olmstead formally announced today that he is seeking the Republican nomination for Commonwealth’s Attorney in Prince William County.

Olmstead is a former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney and current criminal law attorney in private practice with his wife Sevda.

Olmstead first began developing his skillset while working in the Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk’s office as an undergraduate student. He worked full time in the criminal division during the day while attending night classes at George Mason.

Tim later returned to Prince William County in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office during his final year of law school for an externship and was hired as a Law Clerk after graduation.

While clerking for Paul Ebert and studying for the bar, Olmstead was assigned to DC Sniper task force. During this time, he traveled to Virginia Beach where he coordinated evidence for the FBI and ATF which helped the prosecution build their case against John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. During the trial, Tim passed the bar and following a successful conviction of the DC Snipers, was hired as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Prince William County.

“Prince William County is changing – rapidly,” said Mr. Olmstead. “The challenges facing our community are constantly evolving and I am pleased that I have the experience to help build an effective prosecutors office that can keep up to speed. I’m running for Commonwealth’s Attorney because advocating on behalf of victims is not a political exercise and we can not afford to let our Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office succumb to partisanship. I’m running because only an experienced prosecutor and criminal law attorney like myself can lead our Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office into the future.”

“As both a prosecutor and in private practice, I have seen both sides of the law and ensured that justice is properly administered. As your next Commonwealth’s Attorney, I will use my experience to be a tough prosecutor, ensure that justice is delivered fairly on behalf of victims, and guarantee that the citizens of Prince William County have a qualified voice advocating on their behalf.”

The Republican nomination for Commonwealth’s Attorney will take place on Saturday, May 4th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at multiple locations. You can find more information about where to vote at olmsteadforca.com/polling-places/.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Mike May is once again running for the job of Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney.

This is the second time May has sought the job. He last ran for the seat in 2015, and much of his platform today remains the same.

“The issues that motivated me to run for this important position in 2015 are the same issues that motivate me to run today,” said May in a press release. “We have to keep our community safe and protect our neighborhoods. We need to modernize the office and make it more transparent, and we must actively engage the community to enhance public safety and crime prevention.”

May says, if elected, he will implement criminal discovery reform, make the hiring process more transparent, establish a pay classification system to ensure a more sustainable budget, and foster hold more public events to connect with constituents.

The announcement comes as the Paul Ebert, who has held the office since 1968 and prosecuted major cases like the Washington, D.C.-area sniper in 2003 and Lorena Bobbit trail 10 years earlier, said he wouldn’t seek re-election.

Ebert beat May by nearly six percentage points in 2015 with 52 percent of the vote. Since his defeat, he and his wife, Amelia, took over the law firm Formerly known as Albo & Oblon, LLP. Today, the firm is known as May Law, LLP.

May had served for nine years as the Occoquan District Supervisor on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors before his run. He chose not to seek re-election to the Board when he mounted his bid for the top prosecutor job.

Ruth Anderson now sits in that seat.

May is endorsed by multiple Republicans. He’ll face political newcomer Amy Ashworth, who for the past 11 years has worked inside the Prince William County Prosecutors Office in the Special Victims Unit.

The Prince William County Commonwealths Attorney oversees a team of 24 prosecutors in the county’s courthouse in Manassas. They prosecute cases in Prince William County, and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

WOODBRIDGE – (Press Release) Former Chairman of the Virginia State Board of Social Services, D.J. Jordan, 41, announced his intent to run for the 31st District of the Virginia state House of Delegates in this year’s elections. The district includes parts of Prince William and Fauquier Counties.

“I am excited to announce my campaign for the 31st District of the Virginia House of Delegates,” said Jordan.

“If elected, I will advocate for policies that build a culture of human dignity, expand economic and educational opportunities for families, and help small businesses innovate and create high-paying jobs. This campaign is not about me, but rather about the people of this community and the role of state government in our everyday lives. All Virginians deserve a state government that supports our basic freedoms and equal opportunity to succeed.”

Jordan will seek the Republican nomination for the general election on November 5, 2019, when all 100 state House of Delegate seats and all 40 state Senate seats are on the ballot. The House of Delegates currently has a 51-49 Republican majority; all 100 members are elected for two-year terms.

He is running as a Republican, in large part, because of his admiration and respect for Lincoln’s Party and the foundational tenets embodied in its beliefs.

Jordan was born and raised in the Tidewater, Virginia area, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Liberty University, and played on the football team as a student-athlete. He also earned a Masters in Public Management from The Johns Hopkins University.

Jordan worked in the U.S. Congress for ten years in several offices, including the House Committee on Small Business. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill in 2008, he worked in broadcast journalism at CNN and also Fox News. Jordan now works for a public relations firm in Alexandria.

“Throughout this campaign, I will lay out a set of ideas that create more opportunity for families in this district, and I encourage people to engage us at VoteDJ.com,” he said.

Jordan and his wife, Glorya, have four children, and have fostered and adopted from foster care. They live in Woodbridge, and are members of Move Church in Lake Ridge.

Democrat Elizabeth Guzman currently holds the 31st District seat.

WOODBRIDGE — (Press Release) Margaret Angela Franklin, 33, announced her candidacy for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors for the Woodbridge District.

Franklin’s campaign focuses on four major issues:

1. Economic development and job creation within the Woodbridge community

2. Affordable housing options for all residents

3. Improving local transportation, and (4) excellence in education.

“I am running for the Board of County Supervisors to create a new start for Woodbridge residents. A new start that will place a renewed and earnest focus on key issues that impact Woodbridge residents. I will make increasing the quality of life for Woodbridge residents a priority by tackling the challenge of building communities where individuals and families can work and play without having to sit in hours of traffic, providing safe and affordable housing options for all residents, and creating schools of excellence that are conducive to learning,” said Franklin.

A resident of Woodbridge, Franklin serves as an Alternate Commissioner on the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission for Prince William County, Virginia and previously served as Vice Chair of the Prince William County Democratic Committee.

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Franklin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Howard University.

Ms. Franklin is the Legislative Director for Congressman Al Lawson of Florida where she manages Congressman Lawson’s legislative priorities including food assistance, issues impacting small businesses, veteran affairs, regulatory reform, and voting rights. Ms. Franklin previously served as the Senior Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Alma Adams of North Carolina and as a Legislative Aide to U.S.  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Franklin does not have a spouse or children. She sits on the planning committee for African American Women on the Hill and the Board of Advisors for the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee.

Current Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi has not announced his political plans, or whether or not he will run for re-election to the office.