Jack Dobbyn, a Democrat who is running against Republican incumbent Dave Albo this fall, said the 42nd House of Delegates District is shaped like a “butterfly,” and was redrawn to cut out minority populations.

“On a more serious note,” Dobbyn said, “I’m running because we want to have great public schools. I was raised to believe that what you do for the least of your children you do for all of us.”

“Dobbyn is more familiar with the challenges that tremendous population growth has brought to the district,” said Rex Simmons, chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. “Dobbyn and his young family are more like the voters in the 42nd, which has seen a large influx of other young families missed in with long-time residents.”

[...]

“Del. Albo tried to draw himself a safe district, but he can’t beat the long-term demographic trends that are turning voters Democratic. This isn’t the same district it was in 1993, and this district has voted for Democrats like Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, and Jim Webb,” Dobbyn said in a phone interview Tuesday.

[...]

But Simmons called Albo the poster child with what is wrong with Richmond. “This race is about a candidate like Dobbyn who will work tirelessly for the people who live in the 42nd running against an incumbent who has been entrenched in Richmond for so long that he has forgotten who sent him there,” Simmons said.

Terry McAuliffe, chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2001-05 who ran unsuccessfully in 2009 in the state’s gubernatorial race, called Dobbyn “young, vigorous, and willing to take on the issues.”

“I am not tainted by 18 years of partisanship,” Dobbyn said Tuesday. “Growing up in Fairfax County, particularly Mount Vernon, I saw people in many different circumstances, from the richest to the poorest.”

Huge thanks to everyone who came yesterday to rally with Tim Kaine, Dave Marsden, and our campaign, and made hundreds of phone calls and knocked hundreds of doors in just a few short hours. Here’s video of Jack and Tim talking about the power of grassroots activists like you! When will YOU come to the office to canvass? Email kenton@jackdobbyn.com!

DOBBYN FOR DELEGATE HEADQUARTERS
5618 Ox Road Suite G
Fairfax Station, VA 22039

Coverage from the Lorton Patch:

The 30-year-old candidate is currently a vice president for his family’s company, Dyan Dobbyn & Associates. “Growing up here, I realized that we have it so well and… the quality of life is being threatened by people like Dave Albo down in Richmond, people who view teachers as overpaid and underworked, people who beat the drum for [Virginia Attorney General] Ken Cuccinelli and want to bring us back to the Stone Age,” Dobbyn said. “Dave Albo and his cohorts down in Richmond have really made a career out of driving us apart…[and are] more interested in pandering to the Tea Party than they are in bringing solutions to us here in Fairfax County.”

Republicans control the House of Delegates 59 seats to 39 Democratic seats and two Independent seats. “Taking back the House of Delegates is something that is absolutely critical to Virginia’s future,” Virginia State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37) said at the event. “We cannot do this without holding all the levers of influence down in Richmond and this is the start – taking back this district. Fairfax County will eventually be back to an all-blue county.”

Mt. Vernon Patch posts photos and reports from last night’s event with Rep. Jim Moran:

Congressman Jim Moran (D-8th) announced his endorsement of House of Delegates candidate Jack Dobbyn at reception held last night at the Mansion House Club. [...] “He has chosen to set roots in a neighborhood he knows all his life,” said Moran. “This is somebody who’s proven himself to people he’s known all his life. His priorities are the same priorities many people feel strongly about.”