Arlington Democrats have nominated JD Spain, Sr. as the party’s candidate for County Board.
A preliminary tally of votes in the ranked-choice contest, conducted Friday evening, showed Spain with an insurmountable lead prior to the counting of provisional ballots.
Spain ended up nearly 2,000 votes ahead of the next-highest vote-getter, Natalie Roy, after second- and third-choice votes were distributed from the other three candidates: Tenley Peterson, James DeVita, and Julie Farnam.
In all, just over 20,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary — a turnout of about 11% of registered Arlington voters.
Spain, who led the Arlington branch of the NAACP from 2018 to 2022 and helped to boost its local influence, ran on a platform that included a focus on the local economy, parks, schools and mental health services. But it was the issue of Missing Middle housing that set him apart from Roy.
While Roy is strongly opposed to the zoning change that allowed smaller scale multi-family homes in formerly single-family-home only neighborhoods — to the extent that she has actively supported a lawsuit against the county seeking to overturn it — Spain touted how he “successfully pushed the county… to end exclusionary zoning” while president of the NAACP.
Spain, a retired Marine who once served as a drill instructor on Parris Island, is now expected to face independent candidate Audrey Clement and Republican Juan Carlos Fierro in November. The election will determine who replaces the retiring Libby Garvey on the Board.
Garvey endorsed Peterson, a Planning Commission member who voted in favor of Missing Middle. Peterson received the third-most votes in the primary.
Spain and Roy were previously runners up in the 2023 Democratic primary. Spain also ran unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates in 2019.
In a brief statement on social media, Spain said he was “so grateful to Arlington voters as we move ahead to the general election ballot.”
“More to follow!” he wrote.
On Saturday, the Arlington County Democratic Committee issued the following press release about Spain’s nomination.
Arlington Democrats are excited to announce the nomination of Julius “JD” Spain, Sr. (“JD Spain, Sr.”) for Arlington County Board. Following the final ballot tabulations released by Arlington’s Office of Voter Registration and Elections on Saturday, June 22, JD Spain, Sr. emerged as the winner of Democratic Primary for Arlington County Board.
Spain crossed the threshold in Round 4 of ranked-choice voting tabulations, receiving 10,565 (52%) of the overall votes. Election results will be certified at the upcoming Arlington Electoral Board meeting on Monday, June 24 at 4:00 p.m. Arlington Democrats will marshal the full resources of the Democratic Party to elect Spain on November 5, 2024.
“Arlington Dems are excited to have our County Board nominee for November,” said Steve Baker, Chair of Arlington Democrats. “I know JD will work hard to represent our entire community, and we are excited to get to work electing all of our candidates up and down the ballot.”
“I’m grateful for the broad support across the county for the work we hope to do in our community,” said JD Spain, Sr., Democratic Nominee for Arlington County Board. “Today’s results show that we are ‘One Arlington,’” he continued, “and I welcome all fellow Democrats and others to join our campaign until victory is won in November.”
Congratulations to JD Spain!
We also want to thank all the other candidates who ran great campaigns
We look forward to keeping Arlington and Virginia blue this November! https://t.co/tUQCuRClpd
— Arlington Democrats (@arlingtondems) June 21, 2024
There are a few more provisional ballots left to count, so RCV will be re-run tomorrow, but it will barely make a difference in the final results. Bottom line: great to see a progressive who supports diversifying/expanding Arlington's housing supply win! https://t.co/COHcIp8Pfg pic.twitter.com/Ht0BxMX1Co
— Blue Virginia (@bluevirginia) June 21, 2024
