Atif Qarni

American politician (born 1978)

Atif Qarni


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	1978 (age 45–46) Pakistan
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Fatima
Education	George Washington University (BA) George Mason University (MA) Strayer University (MEd)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1996–2004
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	United States Marine Corps 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. 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] 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, losing to incumbent Bob Marshall, and for the Virginia Senate in 2015, losing the Democratic nomination to Jeremy McPike.

He is running in the Democratic Primary for Congress in the Virginia 10th congressional district.^[3]^[4]

Electoral history

Date	Election	Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Virginia House of Delegates, 13th district
Nov 5, 2013^[5]	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^[6]	Primary	Jeremy S. McPike	Democratic	1,377	43.18
		Atif M. Qarni	Democratic	1,152	36.12
		Michael T. Futrell	Democratic	660	20.70

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References

^ Times-Dispatch, GRAHAM MOOMAW Richmond (21 December 2017). "Northam names Prince William civics teacher Atif Qarni as education secretary". Richmond.com. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
^ Khan, Hasan (August 5, 2016). "Footprints: Marine turned teacher countering Trump's rhetoric". Dawn.com. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
^ "Atif Qarni for VA 10". Qarni for Congress. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
^ "Atif Qarni". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
^ "November 2013 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on 2015-04-06. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
^ "June 2015 Democratic Primary Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.

Cabinet of Governor Ralph Northam (2018–2022)

Cabinet
Secretary of the Commonwealth	Kelly Thomasson (2018–2022)
Secretary of Administration	Keyanna Conner (2018–2021) Grindly Johnson (2021–2022)
Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry	Bettina Ring (2018–2022)
Secretary of Commerce and Trade	Esther Lee (2018) Brian Ball (2018–2022)
Secretary of Education	Atif Qarni (2018–2021) Fran Bradford (2021–2022)
Secretary of Finance	Aubrey Layne (2018–2021) Joe Flores (2021–2022)
Secretary of Health and Human Resources	Daniel Carey (2018–2021) Vanessa Walker Harris (2021–2022)
Secretary of Labor	Megan Healy (2021–2022)
Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources	Matt Strickler (2018–2021) Ann Jennings (2021–2022)
Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security	Brian Moran (2018–2022)
Secretary of Transportation	Shannon Valentine (2018–2022)
Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs	Carlos Hopkins (2018–2022)

Cabinet-level
Chief of Staff	Clark Mercer (2018–2022)
Deputy Chief of Staff	Suzette Denslow (2018–2022)
Counsel to the Governor	Rita Davis (2018–2021) Cynthia Bailey (2021–2022)
Chief Workforce Advisor to the Governor	Megan Healy (2018–2021)
Chief Diversity Officer	Janice Underwood (2019–2022)