If Kory runs for re-election, she will face Simon in the Democratic Primary

Del. Marcus Simon could face Del. Kaye Kory in the June 20 Democratic Primary, although Kory hasn’t announced whether she will seek re-election.

Due to redistricting measures approved in 2021, Simon and Kory are now in the same district.

A new district

The newly created 13th District encompasses the City of Falls Church, which Simon represents, and adds Seven Corners and Lake Barcroft, where Kory lives and has represented since 2009.

At a meet-and-greet in Lake Barcroft on June 8, Simon said he has nothing against Kory, noting they had similar voting records about 97 percent of the time. “We care about the same issues, but it’s a situation where I decided I’m going to run again.”

Simon may well have an advantage as the new 13th District includes three-quarters of the voters in Simon’s old district. Kory would have to introduce herself to many more voters in Falls Church City and parts of Merrifield in the old 53rd District.

Voting rights

Simon said one of his top priorities in the General Assembly will be to protect the progress made in increasing access to voting.

When the Democrats controlled the General Assembly, Simon chaired the Privileges and Elections Committee. During that time, Virginia moved from the 49th to 11th place in a ranking of how easy it is to vote.

Now the Republicans are proposing bills to undermine that progress – to get rid of early voting, drop boxes, and no-excuse early voting and go back to requiring photo IDs.

“Democracy seems like it should be a consensus issue,” Simon said. “Now access to the ballot has become controversial.”

Education

Education is also a major issue for Simon. “Public schools in Virginia are under attack right now. Gov. Youngkin does not miss an opportunity to attack public schools.”

As an example, he cited the delay by the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology principal in notifying students about National Merit honors – and Youngkin’s action to have the attorney general “put those guys under criminal investigation for missing the deadline.”

Related story: FCPS to investigate TJ controversy

“Fairfax County and Falls Church have great schools,” Simon said. “We need to keep our public schools great. We need to keep them fully funded so they can continue to be great and provide opportunities for everyone.”  

“I’m going to fight the governor every step of the way to make sure none of the things he wants to do get through,” he said, such as sending voucher money to private schools and interfering with the school curriculum.

Accountability

Simon promised to hold legislators accountable. “Nothing gets through without multiple recorded votes. So when they vote to gut public schools, we’re going to get them on the record every single time.” That should help the Democrats regain control of the House.

That’s what happened with the “bazooka bill” in 2017, he said. Del. Jackson Miller introduced a bill to make it easier to buy flamethrowers, bazookas, and fully automatic machine guns. The Democrats publicized how outrageous that was, “and we ended up winning seats because of that.”