George Barker
Democrat
News Editor Rachael Dickson

Democratic community activist George Barker is running against Republican Senator Jay O’Brien in the 39th district.

“I’ve been very frustrated with what I’ve seen in the general assembly,” Barker said in an August Broadside article. “This is a district that wants someone who will work in the interest of the constituents. They want someone who will get something done and is not an ideologue. They want someone who can reach across party lines to get things done.”

Barker is the chair of Fairfax County’s Transportation Advisory and the vice-chair of Fairfax County’s Tysons task force. He is the founding member and chair of the Northern Virginia Access to Health Care Consortium.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of things in the community. That’s part of what will make me a good senator,” Barker said. “I have background in a lot of different areas; I’m not just a single issue candidate.”

Barker has criticized his opponent for his support of abusive driver fees, which were part of the compromise transportation bill that O’Brien co-sponsored this year. Barker has said that he would fight for money to go to the improvement of roads and transportation in Northern Virginia.

“Unfortunately, our State Senator has voted against numerous Senate statewide and regional proposals to provide us additional transportation funding,” Barker said on his website. “Adherence to ideology has been more important than our needs. With that approach, most of the improvements in approved plans will never be built, and our situation will get even worse.”

Barker has also spoken out about the need to deal with the issue of illegal immigration.

“Clearly the feds are not dealing with illegal immigration and, therefore, we (state and local governments) are having to deal with it,” Barker said in a recent debate. “I have developed a program to deal with this issue based on Fairfax County's change in demographics and the impact of that change on the county's economy.”

Barker advocates a focused approach to illegal immigration issues, such as Fairfax County's use of a task force to investigate excessive crowding in single-family homes, a complaint that is frequently associated with illegal immigration.

“Republican Sen. James J. “Jay” O’Brien Jr. is an affable incumbent, but his scant command of policy and legislative issues has failed to impress,” the Washington Post said in an October 15 article. “His Democratic rival, George L. Barker, a healthcare planner, would make a far more able, detail-oriented and effective senator in this district straddling the Fairfax-Prince William line.”