This article originally appeared here, at wjla.com
FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity announced he is running for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2025.
In an interview on Thursday, Herrity told 7News he would be a boost to the Republican ticket in Virginia.
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is running for Governor and Attorney General Jason Miyares is running for reelection.
“I think absolutely I would be a boost to that ticket,” said Herrity. “I’m a known quantity in Northern Virginia and in Fairfax County, specifically. I think I [would] help the ticket across the finish line. I think Winsome and Jason will benefit from a Northern Virginian on the ticket and help us keep Virginia on the right path. I think Governor Youngkin has got us on a good path. All the numbers show it. We need to keep on that path, and I think I can help keep us on that path.”
Herrity is the only Republican local elected official in Fairfax County. He currently represents the Springfield District as a County Supervisor on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Herrity won his reelection campaign in 2023 by double digits in a heavily Democratic district.
“It’s staying common sense, realizing public service is about delivering for your residents and your constituents,” said Herrity. “I don’t think our residents are into political agendas. I think they’re into common sense; priorities like schools, parks, public safety, lower taxes, affordability, and I try to stay focused on the things that really matter to my citizens.”
“I come from a fairly famous political family,” Herrity told 7News. “My dad was chairman of the board, largely credited with making Fairfax County the economic engine it is today. It’s got the Fairfax County Parkway named after him. I decided to take my early public service in a different direction and became a businessman and a business leader and a sports leader as well. In 2006, my dad passed. I didn’t like the direction the county was headed. Gerry Connolly doubled taxes in Fairfax County between 2000 – 2008. [I] ran for supervisor, and have been serving on the board ever since. Not only do I stand up to many of the things I don’t agree with that the board tries to do, but I get an awful lot done as well.”
Herrity said he would like to get rid of the car tax in Virginia and once again require counties and cities to put meals tax on the ballot as a referendum so voters can decide if they want a food tax in the area they live.
Herrity also told 7News he supports removing taxes on tips.
Herrity said he wants to reduce crime and improve public safety.
“We’re up in Fairfax County double digits over pre-pandemic levels in violent crime, and a lot of it goes back to the 2020-2021 General Assembly session where they took away the ability for our magistrates to hold repeat violent offenders,” said Herrity. “And that’s something that we absolutely need to get fixed. It goes back to holding our Soros-backed Commonwealth’s Attorneys [accountable] that are not prosecuting crime and letting people back out on the street. It goes to funding our law enforcement officers, giving them the proper training and proper support. So I think it’s a multi-pronged approach.”
Herrity added he would like to reform Virginia’s bail process.
“We’ve got to supplement law enforcement, and we’ve got to prosecute crimes and get people off the street that shouldn’t be on the street, especially repeat violent offenders,” Herrity said.
“Clearly we need to focus on education, not political agendas in our in our schools,” Herrity said. “We need to focus on teachers and what’s going on in the classroom, not administrators and administrative burden. The biggest thing I hear from teachers at large is the administrative burden and the lack of support that they feel like they get from administrators. I think there’s a lot we need to do to move our education forward. Governor Youngkin has taken great steps, everything from working to remove the mask mandate, getting schools fully reopened, but what he’s doing now to raise our standards, to truly focus on education is absolutely critical, and something I will continue.”
Herrity said he supports requiring schools to notify parents within 24 hours of student overdoses.
Herrity does not think Virginia schools should allow students to use school bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice despite their biological sex, which is currently allowed in Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and several other Northern Virginia school districts.
“I have grandkids,” Herrity said. “I don’t have kids in school anymore, but I have grandkids, and I don’t want my granddaughter to be in a restroom with somebody who decides to be a guy that day. And it’s about that simple.”
Herrity told 7News he supports the Second Amendment and that he is pro-life.
“I’ll go further: this HB 1 that the Democrats want to enshrine in our Constitution, the ability to have an abortion up until the moment of birth is not Virginia,” said Herrity. “That’s not what Virginians want. I can’t believe that that’s the direction that Democrats are taking on abortion to enshrine in our Constitution, abortion up to the moment of birth.”