With the holiday season coming to a close, Arlington’s main political parties already are focusing on another election season.
And the cash that will be required to compete in it.
The coming year “is pivotal for Virginia,” Arlington County Democratic Committee chair Steve Baker said in a Dec. 30 email to the party rank-and-file.
“Our volunteers are already working hard to help Democrats win two special elections next week to protect our Democratic majorities in the General Assembly,” Baker said. “We hold each house by one seat — winning is vital.”
About an hour before Baker’s message arrived, Arlington County Republican Committee chair Matthew Hurtt had sent out one of his own.
“By every measurable data point, Arlington Republicans did it bigger and better than in any time in recent memory,” he wrote of 2024 results.
“Arlington Republicans are planning to regroup and increase our engagement ahead of the 2025 election in the coming weeks,” Hurtt wrote in the email, urging the GOP rank and file to step up and “turn back the tide of far-left progressivism that has long swept over our community.”
Baker asked Democratic boosters to also stay engaged.
“We need every victory possible to protect Arlingtonians and all Virginians from the harmful policies of the Trump administration,” he wrote.
Both party leaders asked not just for participation, but for financial contributions.
“A donation of $25, $50, $100 or more can make a tremendous impact in funding the resources and outreach efforts we need to win,” Baker said.
Both parties also are gearing up for the next local political season, with both Democrats and Republicans expected to meet in the first two weeks of January.
A Democratic bastion for decades, it’s a rare year when Arlington’s local races are competitive. But a more active Republican effort across Arlington in 2021 helped the GOP statewide ticket of Glenn Youngkin, Winsome Earle-Sears and Jason Miyares sweep statewide races, albeit by narrow margins.
Arlington Democrats, meanwhile, are working to further cement their dominance in county election results.
That dominance was only slightly diminished in 2024. Donald Trump improved his vote total in the county compared to 2016 and 2020, but still managed just 19.5% of the vote, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
There’s never a year with no local races on the ballot in Arlington. Posts to be decided in 2025 include one County Board seat, one School Board seat and the three House of Delegates districts into which Arlington is carved.
Republicans and Democrats in Arlington may also have to contend with the Arlington Green Party and the Forward Party, which could field candidates for 2025 races.
