Democratic committee endorses Moon, McElveen and McDaniel for school board
The Fairfax County Democratic Committee has endorsed Ilryong Moon, Ryan McElveen, and Kyle McDaniel for the three at-large seats on the school board.
The endorsement announcement comes after online voting by eligible Democrats closed on May 20. This was the first time the FCDC held an open caucus to select which candidates to endorse. To participate, voters had to be members of the FCDC or had to register with the committee by May 5.
School board elections are nonpartisan.
Under the FCDC’s endorsement rules, the other two candidates seeking Democratic endorsement – Hamid Munir and Lawrence Webb – are expected to end their campaigns and not run as an independent.
Both McElveen and Moon have previously served as at-large members of the Fairfax County School Board.
McElveen, a board member from 2012 to 2019, is an associate director of the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center and a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
After leaving the school board, he founded the Global Leaders of Fairfax County program, which prepares high school seniors to be global citizens and change agents in their community and the world.
Related story: Former school board member Ryan McElveen is running again
Moon served on the Fairfax County School Board for 24 years, until 2014. He immigrated to the U.S. from Korea with his family when he was 17. He is currently an attorney based in Annandale and a Sunday school teacher.
McDaniel is a pilot and owner of an aviation transport company and flight school.
A former Republican who held leadership positions in the party, McDaniel explained why he left the GOP and became a Democrat – and listed the Democratic values he believes in – in a statement posted on Blue Virginia. During the last school board election, he worked to defeat ultraconservative member Elizabeth Schultz.
Related story: Moon is running for the school board
Other winners in the Democratic caucus include incumbent school board member Melanie Meren in the Hunter Mill District and Mateo Dunn in Mount Vernon.
Mason School Board member Ricardy Anderson did not have an endorsement challenger and is now considered officially endorsed by the FCDC, along with Rachna Sizemore Heizer (Braddock), Robyn Lady (Dranesville), Marcia St. John-Cunning (Franconia), Karl Frisch (Providence), Sandy Anderson (Springfield), and Seema Dixit (Sully).
The FCDC canceled the endorsement caucus for the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District as one of the four candidates, Mary Paulet, dropped out.
As a result, the three remaining candidates seeking Democratic endorsement – Chris Koerner, Rhonda Bitterli, and Dana Barakat – are now officially endorsed by the FCDC.