Great Falls resident David M. Hunt is running for public office, yet his name won’t appear on any ballot this November.
"I’m starting early," said the 36-year-old graduate of Oakton High School and the College of William and Mary. "I have to get the word out now in order to win. I must get folks energized," said Hunt, a Republican, seeking the State Senate seat currently held by Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd).
Hunt, who served in Richmond as appropriations aide to Del. Vincent Callahan, Jr. this past term, knows he must appeal to both Republicans and Democrats if he is to win the district that encompasses Great Falls, the Town of Herndon, McLean, Reston and "a sliver of Falls Church – the Marshall High School area," he said.
"I met Dave this past year as the legislative rep for Forestville Elementary School," said Great Falls resident Maggie O’ Connor, the legislative representative for the Great Falls Elementary School PTA, and a Democrat.
"Dave took an interest in public school issues before his daughter even starts school, and that’s smart," said O’ Connor. Hunt and his wife Amy, married since 1993, have two children, Hanna, 5, and Benjamin, 2.
Hunt, who has served as a mentor at a Reston elementary school and at Forestville, is a weekly volunteer with disabled children.
"He’s a delight to work with," said O’ Connor. "He helped us put a meeting together to go down to Richmond and meet with members of the General Assembly about funding for school," she said.
AN ISSUE that concerns Hunt regards the financing of education — the Composite Index. "In Virginia, state funding for education is allocated based on the county’s ability to pay for education itself," said Hunt. "The state penalizes wealth. The more a county can pay, the less the state will contribute. It’s a flawed formula. Money is leaving the county and redistributed — not just to the poorer counties, but even to wealthy ones."
"The state says it will pay 25 percent of what it believes the cost of public education should be. The county pays the rest," said Hunt. "Most counties believe the cost of education is greater than what the state says it should be. The state now believes education funding needs to be increased by a half billion a year — that’s good. However, using the Composite Index, the more the state pays, the more other jurisdictions benefit, but not necessarily Fairfax County," he said.
"This year the General Assembly gave $215 million more in new money over the next two years for education to the state as a whole, but Fairfax County will get $30 million less than what it got over the last two years," said Hunt.
Hunt attributed this to a combination of rising property values and rising incomes. "The state says we should be able to pay for more of our education. I don’t know how we can do that. We’re going to get $30 million less and 6,000 more students over the same two-year period. Therein lies the problem — that index needs to be reversed to make it fair. If we reform the index, there’s no need to raise taxes. Redistribute the money more fairly. This is not to say abandon other areas," said Hunt, who understands the economics.
Hunt learned the appropriations’ ropes from Callahan, but prior to that, earned an MBA at William and Mary and meets a payroll for 20 employees as owner of the Arlington patent, trademark and translation firm of Landon & Stark. He and his wife bought the company in 1998.
"Working for Vince has been good training for Dave," said 44-year McLean resident Betty Greer. "He’s very enthusiastic and knows what’s going on in Richmond. I think he’d be an excellent senator for us down there. He’s attractive and has a good sense of humor — always important in politics. He’ll do well in debating. It will be a tough race — Janet Howell is established. But Dave’s young and eager and his wife is very supportive," said Greer, a longtime Republican volunteer, who recalled meeting Hunt during Sen. John Warner’s campaign of 1996. "Dave did such a terrific job — going door to door, writing notes, he really followed through and he continued his work for other candidates," she said.
"I like that he runs a successful business — that’s a big plus. He can manage a business," said 22-year McLean resident Olivia Jenney.
DURING THE COMMUTE from Great Falls to Arlington about a year ago, Hunt began to contemplate candidacy. "I’m frustrated. Every day I sit in traffic. I can get on Route 7 at 6 a.m. and the roads are already congested. The only reprieve is during a federal government holiday," said Hunt.
"We have a crisis here. We have a $6.5 billion shortage in transportation funding over the next 10 years. We have needs for road improvements and construction projects on the books from the Virginia Transportation Act of 2000, but we’re $6.5 billion short of funds of making that happen," he said.
Supporting the half-cent sales tax increase to benefit transportation, Hunt said, "we have reached crisis proportions. Northern Virginia is the economic engine for the state. If we don’t solve our transportation crisis, we’re at risk of hurting the local economy and cutting off the very prosperity that helps Richmond support so many other areas of the state. We can’t kill the Golden Goose," he said.
"I will be relentless in Richmond on this issue," said Hunt. He offered as a solution to the transportation crisis the suggestion that the transportation trust fund be "untouchable." He noted that during past recessions the state "raided the transportation trust fund to pay for other things. Look at what V-DOT did two months ago — froze state projects."
"Mass transit will help us, but will not solve all our problems. We have a love affair with cars. It’s not just going to work, for the supermarket and picking up the kids at soccer practice," said Hunt, who does support rail to Dulles. "It will take some cars off the roads."