Dannan Wins Braddock District Special Election

Updated at 8:35 p.m.

BURKE, VA — Tom Dannan, the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate in Tuesday's special election, garnered two-thirds of the votes cast in the Braddock District school board race.

Dannan, the unofficial winner with all 29 precincts reporting, is a small business owner. He defeated Saundra Davis, who has 10 years of leadership experience serving vulnerable communities, in the school board race.

"I'm looking forward to getting down to the policy issues, meeting with the current board members, meeting the supervisors, and meeting, most importantly, with educators and staff," Dannan said at his victory party Tuesday night at the Bandito's restaurant in Fairfax.

Dannan added that he was ready to tackle some of the big issues facing county schools, especially the upcoming budget discussions.

"Our kids' future is going to be dramatically different than what we experienced, and the rate of change is exponential," he said. "Things are changing so rapidly, and the economy, the jobs of tomorrow are going to be so much different. Society will be so much different. And I think it's essential that we be forward focused about that."

As a parent of two students in Fairfax County Public Schools, Dannan is focused helping to prepare them and their classmates to meet the challenges of the changing world.

"I saw a need on the board to be looking far ahead of the curve," he said." What's coming down the road. What can we do to make sure the kids are prepared? And to me that means making sure that they're adaptable, they're good citizens, good critical thinkers and so forth."

With all precincts reporting, Dannan received about 65 percent of the votes to 34 percent for Davis, according to the state election site.

Patch will report the unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections as they become available throughout the night. Check back here to see the latest vote totals.

Patch Candidate Questionnaires

• Academic Excellence, Fiscal Responsibility Priorities For Saundra Davis: Candidate Questionnaire
• Maintaining High-Quality Services Priority For Tom Dannan: Candidate Questionnaire

Although school board candidates appear on the ballot as independents, they can be endorsed by a political party. Davis is endorsed by the Fairfax GOP and Dannan defeated Alexa Krezel in the Jan. 10 Firehouse Primary to win the Democratic Party's endorsement.

As of Feb. 19, Dannan had received a total of $38,074 in campaign contributions, according to financial filings reported by the nonprofit Virginia Public Information Project.

Davis also reported on Feb. 19 that she had received $21,910 in campaign contributions, according to VPAP.

The school board seat became vacant on Dec. 16, when Rachna Sizemore Heizer was sworn in as the new Braddock District supervisor. She was elected to that post by defeating Republican Kenneth P. "Ken" Balbuena and Independent candidate Carey Chet Campbell in the Dec. 9 special election.

On Tuesday night, Sizemore Heizer congratulated Dannan on his victory.

"I wanted to make sure that whoever stepped into my seat was doing it from his new heart, was doing it for the kids, was doing it because he firmly believed in service and in public education," she said.