Andres Jimenez launches campaign for Mason supervisor

At his official campaign launch for Mason District supervisor on Jan. 7, Andres Jimenez outlined his top priorities.

“We need to look at smart transportation,” he said. “One of the biggest issues here is pedestrian safety. In the last year, we had so many unnecessary accidents, some of them fatal.”

Jimenez said Fairfax County can be a national leader on climate issues, noting his experience on environmental issues. He was senior director of government affairs at the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and associate director of government relations at the Ocean Conservancy.

He called for more innovative solutions, such as solar canopies over parking lots.

Jimenez is currently an at-large member of the Fairfax County Planning Commission. In 2019 he ran for the House of Delegates but failed to beat incumbent Del. Kaye Kory.

He is one of four Democratic candidates so far vying to succeed Penny Gross as the Mason District representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The others are Jeremy Allen, Steve Lee, and Reid Voss. The Democratic Primary is June 20.

Related story: Penny Gross will not seek re-election

Jimenez urged more funding for teacher salaries and said, “we must make sure workers have a livable, fair wage and that essential workers can afford to live in the community.”

And while economic development and helping businesses bring in jobs are important, he said, “we can’t drive out the mom-and-pop shops that have been here for so long.”

Jimenez grew up in a small town in West Virginia where “not a lot of folks looked like me.” Fairfax County, especially Mason District, is a place with people from all over and many different types of cultures, he noted. “We have so much to offer here.”

With the county’s support for equity and inclusion, he said, “We want to make sure this is a community that accepts everyone.”