Janet Oleszek

Janet Oleszek is a former at-large member of the Fairfax County school board in Virginia. She was elected to the school board in 2003, serving for one term (2004-2008). She ran for and lost elections for the state House, state Senate, and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Oleszek holds a master's degree in special education from American University, and began her career as a teacher in the Fairfax County public schools system.
Oleszek joined the PTA when her sons began school and served first as Local Legislation Chair, then (Fairfax) County Council Chair and finally (Virginia) State Legislation Chair in 2002, where she advocated for public school students throughout the Commonwealth and developed an annual legislative agenda gathered from 146 local school districts.
In 2003, Oleszek ran for one of three at-large seats on the Fairfax County School Board. She received 87,759 votes, the largest number of votes of the six candidates for the seat.
While serving on the school board, Oleszek successfully advocated for full-day kindergarten (FDK); its implementation is considered one of her flagship successes as a school board member.
In 2005, Oleszek ran for the Virginia House of Delegates 37th District seat. She was defeated in the Democratic primary by David Bulova 58%-42%.
In 2007, Oleszek did not seek re-election to the School Board, instead challenging incumbent Republican state Senator Ken Cuccinelli as the Democratic candidate for the 37th District seat in the Virginia Senate. On the night of the election, unofficial results showed Cuccinelli leading by a margin of less than 100, well within the 1% (371) necessary to request a recount. Oleszek requested a recount which showed that Cuccinelli won by 92 votes out of 37,185 cast. Oleszek conceded the race on December 19, 2007.
In 2011, Oleszek ran for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, seeking to represent the county's Braddock District. She defeated Chris Wade in the Democratic primary by 43 votes out of 3,875 cast. She challenged Republican incumbent John Cook in the general election, and was defeated by 371 votes out of 25,375 cast (49%-48%).

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu