| Atif Qarni | |
| Office: | 19th Virginia Secretary of Education |
| Governor: | Ralph Northam |
| Term Start: | January 13, 2018 |
| Term End: | November 24, 2021 |
| Predecessor: | Dietra Trent |
| Successor: | Fran Bradford |
| Birth Name: | Atif Mustafa Qarni |
| Birth Place: | Pakistan |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Fatima Pashaei |
| Education: | George Washington University Strayer University (MEd) Vanderbilt University |
| Allegiance: |  United States |
| Unit: | Reserve |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Serviceyears: | 1996–2004 |
| Battles: | 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 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, and is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University.[2] [3]
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.[4] He served as a paralegal at the international law firm McDermott Will & Emery before beginning a career in teaching. He then served as a civics, economics, U.S. history, and math teacher at Beville Middle School in Dale City. Qarni ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2013, losing to incumbent Bob Marshall,[5] and for the Virginia Senate in 2015, losing the Democratic nomination to Jeremy McPike.[6] He was appointed as the Virginia Secretary of Education by governor Ralph Northam in 2017.[7] In 2021, he resigned from the cabinet position to become the managing director of external affairs at Temple University’s Hope Center.[8] [9] In 2024, he ran in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 10th congressional district, placing third.[10] [11]
| Date | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia House of Delegates, 13th district | ||||||
| Nov 5, 2013[12] | 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[13] | 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 | 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 | ||||