Video: Supervisor Herrity Kicks Off Campaign, Hopes for the Luck O' the Irish

Supervisor Pat Herrity launched his 2011 re-election campaign last Wednesday with a rollicking Irish party to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

The event featured performances by an Irish guitarist and singer, plenty of helpings of corned beef and cabbage and St. Patrick’s Day decorations for children to color.

“If every member of congress had the integrity of Frank Wolf, this would be a different country,” Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk John Frey said about U.S. Representative Wolf, who introduced Herrity for his speech.

“The Herrity family has probably made a bigger contribution to Fairfax County…than any other family I know here in Virginia,” said Wolf, who serves the 10th congressional district. “The apple has not fallen very very far from the tree.”

He reminisced about Herrity’s father, Jack Herrity, who served on the Board of Supervisors from 1972 to 1988, including 12 years as chairman of the board. The County Planning and Development Building was named in his honor in 1994.

Wolf attributed the building of both I-66 and Fairfax County Parkway to the elder Herrity. Jack Herrity passed away in February, 2006 at age 74.

Wolf said that Pat Herrity has inherited his father’s “sharp pencil way of looking at things,” a “bulldog attitude of taking issues on.”

Herrity addressed a number of issues during his speech at the event, going over many of his achievements during his tenure on the Board of Supervisors and his goals for the future. He first spoke about his efforts to reduce homeowner’s taxes, which he said doubled in the seven years before he took office (from $2,400 in 2000 to $4,800 in 2007.)

“We’ve only cut the Fairfax county budget by a little over a percent,” Herrity said. “We’ve got a ways to go. We’re going to continue to work to lower homeowner’s taxes.”

He also spoke about what he’s done to improve traffic issues in the area, including supporting extending HOV hours, opening ramps on I-66 that were previously unused most of the time, and opening the shoulder lanes on the highway during any period of congestion.

Herrity also addressed a few other issues.

“I’ve pushed the board to look at our immigration policy- something that was ignored by previous boards,” Herrity said, to great applause. “I’ve pushed the sheriff to do basically the same thing Prince William [County] is doing-- deporting our criminal illegal aliens. We need to do that.”

Many current Republican elected officials attended the event, including Supervisors John Cook (Braddock District) and Michael Frey (Sully District), Delegate Dave Albo (42nd District), Delegate Barbara Comstock (34th district), and Delegate Jim LeMunyon (67th district). Even more Republican candidates for office this year turned out as well, including Steve Hunt (running for state senate in the 37th district), Mac Cannon, (running for the House of Delegates in the 36th district), Spike Williams (running for Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors), and Elizabeth Schultz (running for FCPS School Board in the Springfield district). Keith Fimian, who ran against US Representative Gerry Connolly in a close race last year, also attended.

Herrity’s own family also turned out in droves for the event. He stood with his wife Nancy and his children Sean and Valeria, with his mother Justine Herrity nearby. His siblings came out to support him as well, bringing their own spouses and families along.

Supervisors Pat Herrity and John Cook will be hosting former governor George Allen with his wife, Susan Allen, at Glory Days in Burke on April 5, from 7-9 p.m.