R. Kirk McPike was elected to City Council in November 2021. Prior to his election to Council, Kirk spent many years serving on Alexandria Boards and Commissions, with a focus on affordable housing and budget issues.
Kirk came to Alexandria in 2010 to run Adam Ebbin’s campaign for the Virginia State Senate. Kirk grew up in Dallas, Texas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Southern Methodist University. Kirk is also a graduate of the Political Leaders Program of the Thomas C. Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.
Kirk is the former chair of the Alexandria Economic Opportunities Commission, which works with the City to support services for lower income Alexandrians. In 2017, Kirk was appointed to Alexandria’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee. On the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee, Kirk worked with representatives of communities across Alexandria, business leaders, policy experts, and City staff to advise City Council on budgetary issues.
Kirk is the Chief of Staff to Congressman Mark Takano, the Chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and a leading progressive voice in Congress. As chief of staff, Kirk advises the Congressman on issues ranging from LGBTQ rights to foreign affairs. On Capitol Hill, Kirk is a member of the Congressional LGBTQ Staff Association and the House Chiefs of Staff Association.
As a member of City Council, Kirk is a member of the Alexandria Workforce Development Center Subcommittee, the Eco-City Alexandria Environmental Action Plan Steering Committee, the High School Project Advisory Committee, the Legislative Subcommittee, the Alexandria Economic Opportunities Commission, the Alexandria Transportation Commission, the Citizen Corps Council, the Eisenhower East Design Review Board, the Local Emergency Planning Committee, the Eisenhower Partnership Board of Directors, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee. He is also an alternate member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Climate, Energy and Environmental Policy Committee and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors.
Kirk and his husband, Cantor Jason Kaufman, live in the Seminary Hill neighborhood of Alexandria’s West End.