Please join me this upcoming Saturday, January 30th, for a town hall meeting in the 43rd district to discuss ongoing state issues, the budget, and the winter legislative session. Guests joining me will be State Senator George Barker and Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay. I'll be hosting the event at the Snyder Center in Kingstowne (6450 South Van Dorn, just south of Franconia Road) from 10 a.m. to noon on the 30th. Any and all are welcome.

The big day has arrived! Please click here to enter your address if you need to find your polling location. Remember, every vote counts!

º Local Transportation Projects º

There are many transportation projects underway in and around the 43rd District. The long-awaited "missing link" of the Fairfax County Parkway is under construction, Mulligan Road from Hayfield to Route 1 is under construction, a fourth lane on I-95 from Springfield to Prince William County is under construction, a $237 million interchange at Telegraph Road and the Beltway is under construction, a turn lane from South Kings Highway to Harrison Lane and Route 1 is under construction, and expanded passenger rail (VRE) capacity is under construction.

Engineering and construction funds are also now locked away to widen the intersection of Telegraph Road and S. Kings Highway, easing more traffic through that difficult choke point. Engineering is also under underway to widen Route 1 between the Fairfax County Parkway and the Ft. Belvior main gates.

Last night, some campaign signs belonging to my opponent were torn down and vandalized. Our campaign has been one based on good government and progress for our community. I am outraged by this vandalism and condemn whoever took this action.

What also has no place in this campaign are the lies our opponent has been mailing to voters in the 43rd district. While we do not know who slashed his signs, we do know our opponent is responsible for publishing flat-out falsehoods on my work to create real transportation solutions for the 43rd district.

When voters head to the polls on Tuesday, I am confident they will select the candidate with real community experience, proven leadership, and vision to make South Fairfax County an even better place to live and raise a family.

In their brief rundowns of the local races, the Washington Post endorsed my candidacy for re-election this morning, calling me a "savvy, productive lawmaker." I am honored to receive their vote of confidence, and urge you to read the rest of the article, as well as coverage of the other local races, over here.

I thought I would share with you this piece of good news published today (full endorsement here):

"Del. Mark Sickles has built a solid record on core issues like transportation, education and public safety. He has also put a significant amount of time into subjects that don't always grab headlines but positively affect Virginians... Sickles, whose name was attached to a dozen other sensible bills this year, deserves two more years in Richmond."

In its endorsement of Creigh Deeds in the governor's race over the weekend, the Washington Post editorial board made a stark contrast between the competing gubernatorial candidates' plans to solve our transportation crisis. The whole piece is worth reading, but here is a choice passage:

Today, my profile was published in the Springfield Connection in advance of the November 3rd vote. You can read the entire piece here, and check out this excerpt below:

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What is the most significant issue facing Northern Virginia?

Continued investment in education, both K-12 and higher education, remains the most important issue and use of your tax dollars made by the General Assembly. Our future workforce is the key to success in the 21st century economy. Nonetheless, our most urgent, unaddressed issue is transportation.

In a show of growing support for the campaign as election day grows near, four major organizations -- the Virginia Education Association, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, and the Virginia Farm Bureau -- endorsed my candidacy in recent weeks. In order to remain the number one state in the country to do business, it is critical that we are able to provide children a first-class education while stimulating a high-tech, new-energy economy. I have worked closely with all of the organizations that have endorsed me to pursue these goals and keep Virginia moving forward.

I wanted to share with you a great editorial published in the Washington Post yesterday that highlights the concerns we here in Northern Virginia face on a daily basis. Until a real transportation solution is passed by the House of Delegates, we will continue to be mired in gridlock. From Virginia's Transportation Mess: