After climbing through Alexandria’s political spheres, it’s almost as if R. Kirk McPike is starting over.
The new 5th House District delegate to Virginia’s General Assembly resigned his seat on the Alexandria City Council just before winning a special election in February to fill the seat vacated by now-state Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-39). In order to comply with state law, the Democrat also had to quit his full-time job as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).
“It was definitely hard,” McPike told ALXnow about leaving Takano’s office. “I love the team that’s in that office. I love the culture that we built that I think was fairly unique on Capitol Hill.”
McPike, with a delegate’s salary of $17,640, is also looking for a new full-time job.
“I’m very interested in continuing to work in the mission-driven areas that have defined my entire career,” McPike said. “I’ve spent my whole professional career working on things like LGBTQ+ rights and veterans issues and housing issues.”
McPike won the 5th House District election in a landslide and was sworn in on Feb. 18, right after Crossover Day where all bills passed in the House of Delegates head to the state Senate and vice versa. While he couldn’t introduce any legislation after being sworn in, he considers his onboarding as “the longest new member orientation in General Assembly history.”
McPike is a stern critic of President Donald Trump and on his website states that the “civil rights of the American people, particularly women, people of color, immigrants, and LGB’TQ+ people, are under assault from the Trump Administration.”
McPike and Takano also sheltered in place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. McPike has called the experience heartbreaking.
McPike, who lives with his husband and their beagle, Jenny, in the Seminary Hill neighborhood, has been working as co-chair of a statewide campaign to amend the Constitution of Virginia. In November, voters will go to the polls to vote on a statewide referendum to repeal an unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage.
“Virginia has had one of the most expansive bans on marriage equality of any state constitution, and we’re going to go in and replace that with an affirmative right for any two adults who are otherwise legally qualified to marry to marry regardless of their sex,” McPike said.
A native of Dallas, Texas, McPike has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern Methodist University and started his political career in 2005 as a field director for the Dallas County Democratic Party. He spent years working as chief of staff for a number of Texas legislators and ran the successful campaign to reelect former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez.
McPike moved to Alexandria in 2010 to manage then-Del. Adam Ebbin’s successful 2011 campaign for Virginia Senate. He was connected to Ebbin by the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, an organization that supports openly LGBTQ+-friendly candidates to run for public office. The Victory Fund also recommended McPike to Takano to manage his successful congressional campaign in 2012.
“Kirk is a great guy,” Ebbin told ALXnow. “He is resourceful, super smart and has a great sense of humor. Kirk is a creative thinker, highly organized and has the right mind and temperament to succeed as a legislator.”
In 2011, McPike joined the Alexandria Democratic Committee and got appointed to be then-Sen. Ebbin’s representative on the city’s Economic Opportunities Commission. He would later be appointed to the city’s Budget and Fiscal Advisory Committee before winning his first election to City Council during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. McPike, like his colleagues, was sworn in virtually and was reelected in 2024.
While on City Council, McPike says he devoted up to 30 hours a week for city-related work.
“It was a wonderful experience being on Council,” McPike said. “We got to pass the Zoning for Housing plan, which was controversial, but it was the right thing to do. And we passed Duke Street in Motion, also controversial … and we got to authorize the redevelopment of the PRGS (Potomac River Generating Station) site and work on the redevelopment of the Landmark Mall site.”
McPike now holds a seat representing Alexandria in the House of Delegates like Ebbin once did and was appointed to the Finance and Public Safety committees.
“It’s kind of incredible how it all comes together,” McPike said. “Adam is one of my best friends.”
As for next session, McPike says he wants to help the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority get stable and secure funding.
“WMATA is the lifeline of the local economy,” McPike said. “We need a sustainable funding mechanism, whether that’s overlay sales tax in this region or some other way … I’m looking forward to being part of that conversation.”
McPike also said that he’s been talking with James Libresco, the former student editor of Alexandria City High School’s Theogony newspaper, about introducing state legislation to give high school papers First Amendment rights.
With the city’s Zoning for Housing/Housing for All in his rearview mirror, McPike says that Virginia needs to encourage housing creation at all price points.
“I think that we can go further, that we need to look at more permissive structures around duplexes, ADUs (accessory dwelling units), housing options that meet the needs that communities have,” McPike said.
