Greetings, one and all. When Steve and Jeanine invited me to be one of the contributors here at TBE, I was both excited and honored. I am no stranger to the VA Blogosphere, having posted under a pseudonym for a few years (back when I started blogging and posting, EVERYONE used pseudonyms). But now that I will be a regular contributor here, I have decided to retire the old pseudonym.
Some of you out there probably know who I am, but I am betting that the vast majority of The Bull Elephant readers have never heard of me. So for those of you who are wondering just who this guys is, here is a little background about me.
I moved to Northern Virginia at the age of 10 when my Dad was elected to the US House of Representatives from WV in 1980. I was lucky enough to be sitting on the grounds of the Capitol to watch President Ronald Reagan take the oath of office for the first time, then sit beside my Dad on the floor of the House when he was sworn in. After that I was hooked. Politics was in my blood.
I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from West Virginia University, then worked with my Father at his consulting firm where we did public affairs consulting, political consulting, and campaign management.
When I moved to Loudoun County I got involved in the local committee and served in a variety of roles including a Precinct Captain, District Chairman, and Chairman of the Loudoun County Young Republicans.
In 2003 I ran for and was elected to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors representing the old Sugarland Run District. My highlights during that time include fighting for lower taxes, changing our Comprehensive Plan to remove plans for the urbanization of Eastern Loudoun, and passing a compromise zoning ordinance for Western Loudoun that has, for all intents and purposes, ended the Western Loudoun growth wars that raged across the County in the 90’s to mid 2000’s.
In 2004, I married my wife, Michelle, who is the daughter of Senator Dick Black (R-13) and we now have 5 wonderful kids (4 boys, and 1 little girl who rules the roost).
In 2007, when the General Assembly passed, and Governor Tim Kaine signed, HB 3202 that tried to give the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, an unelected body, the power to impose taxes on Northern Virginia, I convinced my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to challenge this law in court because it violated the Viriginia Constitution. We were the only locality in Northern Virginia to take this step and we, along with Del. Bob Marshall, Sen. Dick Black (who at the time was not in office), and a handful of other citizens, prevailed with a unanimous verdict in the VA Supreme Court.
After losing a 2006 special election for the 33rd Senate seat, and then losing my re-election for the BoS in 2007, I changed career tracks and went into computers. I now work as a website designer and software developer and am loving every minute of it, but I try to stay involved in politics here and there.
For my politics, I am a social and fiscal Conservative. I favor party-run processes over open primaries until we have registration by party. I was glad to see John Boehner go, and am reserving judgment on Speaker Ryan until I see more. I believe in the 80% rule, and don’t want to challenge every Republican that doesn’t agree with me 100%, but I also believe that when a politician makes promises when running for office, they need to keep those promises. If they don’t, they should expect a primary.
I could go on, but over the next few weeks I am sure that my positions on a multitude of issues will become clear.
I intend to post on a number of different topics, mostly centered on politics, but occasionally I will change it up. I hope you find my posts interesting, and I will try my best not to be boring.
-Mick
