Atif Mustafa Qarni (born 1978) is an American teacher, former military non commissioned officer, and a
Democratic politician who was appointed by Governor
Ralph Northam as
Virginia Secretary of Education
The Secretary of Education is a member of the Virginia Governor's Cabinet. The office is currently vacant.
List of Secretaries of Education
* Earl J. Shiflet (1972–1974)
* Vacant (1974–1976)From 1974 to 1976, Governor Godwin's chief of sta ...
. Immigrating from
Karachi,
Pakistan, with his family at the age of ten, Qarni grew up in
Parkville, Maryland, before moving to
Manassas, Virginia in 2005. He served in the
United States Marine Corps, was deployed to Iraq as part of
Operation Iraqi Freedom
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
, and rose to the rank of Sergeant.
He served as a paralegal at the international law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP before beginning a career in teaching. Qarni ran for a seat in the
Virginia House of Delegates in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, losing to incumbent
Bob Marshall, and for the
Virginia Senate in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
, losing the Democratic nomination to
Jeremy McPike
Jeremy Scott McPike (born September 19, 1975) is an American politician from Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, McPike is the member of the Virginia Senate, who has represented the 29th district since the 2015 election.
Jeremy McPike ...
.
Electoral history
References
External links
Virginia Secretary of Education
Living people
1978 births
State cabinet secretaries of Virginia
Virginia Democrats
Asian-American people in Virginia politics
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War
George Washington University alumni
George Mason University alumni
Strayer University alumni
Pakistani emigrants to the United States
American politicians of Pakistani descent
People from Manassas, Virginia
Candidates in the 2013 United States elections
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