This story was produced by El Tiempo Latino. La puedes leer en español aquí.

Last month, Democrat Andrés Jiménez won the Virginia primary election for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors seat in the Mason District. With no Republican candidate running, Jiménez is all but guaranteed to become the first Latino person to hold this position after the general election in November.

Jiménez spoke exclusively to El Tiempo Latino about his future projects for the Latino community in Fairfax.

The outgoing supervisor for the district, Penny Gross, held the seat for 28 years and chose to retire at the end of this term. “It appeared to me as an opportunity to help the community with my experience,” Jiménez said. “We need to talk to and hear from all the communities in Mason.”

In the primary, he ran against Democrats Jeremy Allen, Steve Lee and Reid Voss; defeating them with 35% of the vote.

Jiménez said the most important thing for any elected leader is to visit each community and look closely at the residents’ problems. “I want all of our communities to have a voice, to be able to participate and speak out about their issues. It is very important that the local government knows what is happening in the communities, without exclusions, in order to seek solutions.”

Latin roots in Fairfax 

Jiménez was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He came to the United States with his parents when he was only three years old. He studied political science at DePaul University in Chicago. After graduating, Jiménez lived in Washington and worked on the Hill, including nearly three years for the House Judiciary’s Immigration Subcommittee.

In 2010, he moved to New York City, where he worked in the mayor’s office. He supported Latino communities in the Big Apple, and will now do so in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Jiménez has also worked for organizations that fight against climate change, including the Ocean Conservancy and Citizens’ Climate Lobby. He is currently the executive director of Green 2.0, a diversity watchdog organization focused on the environmental sector.

Road safety and affordable housing

A top priority for Jiménez is improving road safety so that everyone in the county feels at ease when walking or biking.

“We have had many traffic accidents. My goal is to work with the Virginia Department of Transportation to create a roadway program that keeps passersby safe,” he told El Tiempo Latino.

The Democrat pledged to advocate for paying more competitive salaries to secure the best public safety professionals in the region.

And he emphasized that he will engage with communities before making decisions as supervisor. “I want to make Mason a community where all of its residents can have quality of life.”

Jiménez also plans to propose a project that would offer families low-cost rental housing. “There are many workers who have to commute up to 40 minutes from their homes to their jobs because of the high cost of housing in Mason, they choose to live far away rather than pay rent in the district,” he said. “My goal is to change that picture, with more affordable rents.”

He has big plans across sectors. Jiménez indicated that he will work on the climate crisis in conjunction with his current employer and other organizations. He also detailed plans to push for an increase in teachers’ salaries and to create programs promoting education in the district.

“There are many programs in Fairfax, such as mental health and homeless programs, that need attention so we can expand them,” he added.

Every vote is important 

Jiménez stressed the importance of participation in elections, since this primary election did not see much turnout. (11% of registered voters.)

“Every election is important. We need our Latino community to vote, to get out in the primaries, because it is important to have that voice. A community has more power when it votes,” he said.

An Axios-Ipsos Latino poll revealed that a percentage of the Latino population in the United States is moving away from the Jiménez’s party. He said many politicians are distanced from the reality of the community, which in turn leads Latino voters to distance themselves from Democrats.

“We must have better communication with the Latino community,” Jiménez said. “If we lose that, we can’t expect acceptance. We have to show Latinos why they elected us. It cannot remain mere words.”

Inclusion of Latino communities

Jiménez affirmed that he will fight for equality in Mason: “It is important that no one feels excluded in our district.”

He pledged to keep working with and for Latino residents, as he has been doing for the past 15 years. And despite his own expected victory, Jiménez stressed the importance of turning out for the general election.

“My call to Latinos is to go out and vote in November, to elect their representatives, because if they don’t, we remain the same,” he said. “If we vote, we win. It’s key to the future of Mason.”