Atif Qarni | |
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19th Virginia Secretary of Education | |
In office January 13, 2018 –November 24, 2021 | |
Governor | Ralph Northam |
Preceded by | Dietra Trent |
Succeeded by | Fran Bradford |
Personal details | |
Born | Atif Mustafa Qarni 1978 (age 46–47) Pakistan |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Fatima Pashaei |
Education | George Washington University (BA) George Mason University (MA) Strayer University (MEd) Vanderbilt University (EdD) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch/service | ![]() |
Years of service | 1996–2004 |
Rank | Sergeant |
Unit | Reserve |
Battles/wars | Iraq War |
Atif Mustafa Qarni (born 1978) is an American teacher,former military non-commissioned officer,and Democratic politician who was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam as Virginia Secretary of Education. [1]
Emigrating from Karachi,Pakistan,with his family at the age of ten,Qarni grew up in Parkville,Maryland,before moving to Manassas,Virginia,in 2005. [2] He obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology from George Washington University,a master’s in history and a teaching license in secondary education from George Mason University,a master's in educational administration from Strayer University,and is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University. [3] [4] [5]
He served in the United States Marine Corps,was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom,and rose to the rank of Sergeant. [2] [3] He served as a paralegal at the international law firm McDermott Will &Emery before beginning a career in teaching.[ citation needed ] He then served as a civics,economics,U.S. history,and math teacher at Beville Middle School in Dale City. [2] [3] Qarni ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2013,losing to incumbent Bob Marshall, [6] and for the Virginia Senate in 2015,losing the Democratic nomination to Jeremy McPike. [7] He was appointed as the Virginia Secretary of Education by governor Ralph Northam in 2017. [3] [8] In 2021,he resigned from the cabinet position to become the managing director of external affairs at Temple University’s Hope Center. [9] [10] In 2024,he ran in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 10th congressional district,placing third. [11] [12]
Date | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Virginia House of Delegates,13th district | |||||
Nov 5,2013 [13] | General | Robert G. Marshall | Republican | 8,946 | 51.33 |
Atif M. Qarni | Democratic | 8,448 | 48.47 | ||
Write Ins | 35 | 0.20 | |||
Virginia Senate,29th district | |||||
Jun 9,2015 [14] | Primary | Jeremy S. McPike | Democratic | 1,377 | 43.18 |
Atif M. Qarni | 1,152 | 36.12 | |||
Michael T. Futrell | 660 | 20.70 | |||
United States House of Representatives,Virginia's 10th district | |||||
Jun 18,2024 [11] | Primary | Suhas Subramanyam | Democratic | 13,504 | 30.4 |
Dan Helmer | 11,784 | 26.6 | |||
Atif Qarni | 4,768 | 10.7 | |||
Eileen Filler-Corn | 4,131 | 9.3 | |||
Jennifer Boysko | 4,016 | 9.0 | |||
David Reid | 1,419 | 3.2 | |||
Michelle Maldonado | 1,412 | 3.2 | |||
Adrian Pokharel | 1,028 | 2.3 | |||
Krystle Kaul | 982 | 2.2 | |||
Travis Nembhard | 722 | 1.6 | |||
Marion Devoe | 386 | 0.9 | |||
Mark Leighton | 224 | 0.5 |