Campaigns in Arlington’s Democratic primary and School Board caucus are kicking into gear, with three competitive races at the local level.
Candidates Monique “Moe” Bryant and June Prakash are competing for one open seat on the Arlington School Board.
Meanwhile, current County Board Chair Takis Karantonis is facing one challenger — James DeVita — while Del. Patrick Hope (D) has two competitors: Sean Epstein and Arjoon Srikanth.
At the state level, two candidates — Shannon Taylor and Jay Jones — are vying for the Democratic nod in Virginia’s attorney general race.
A crowded field is also competing in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Candidates Alexander Bastani, Ghazala Hashmi, Babur Lateef, Aaron Rouse, Victor Salgado and Levar Stoney have all launched campaigns.
Early voting begins on Friday, while online voting in the School Board caucus began earlier this month and will run through Saturday, May 10.
In-person voting in the caucus will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 4 at Washington-Liberty High School and on Saturday, May 10 at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School.
School Board candidates focus on equity, absenteeism
In the campaign for the Democratic endorsement for School Board, distinctions between Prakash and Bryant’s platforms are often found in the details.
On the issue of racial equity and eliminating achievement gaps between different student demographics, which has vexed school leaders for decades, Bryant has said that existing strategies have failed.
“We have to address them in a new manner,” she said. “We have to start at the foundational level and look at the root causes.”
Prakash acknowledged that the concept of equity “means different things to different people.”
To her, she said, “it’s about making sure that everyone is given the right tools for success.”
Closing achievement gaps is a perennial issue in Arlington School Board elections, having surfaced last year, as well.
In her experience as a PTA leader, Prakash has seen wide variations in parent fundraising, she said, which further compounded school-to-school resource disparities.
On the challenge of addressing chronic absenteeism, candidates say the school system’s leaders have to stay focused.
“We are working on solutions — we are making strides,” Prakash said of attempts to cut chronic absenteeism, which is linked to poor performance.
In the 2023-24 school year, Prakash said, the rate of chronic absenteeism at one high school, Wakefield, was more than 25%.
“That is alarming,” she said, calling absenteeism-reduction efforts “definitely a pressing challenge.”
“Some things have improved” in addressing absenteeism, Bryant said. She pressed for a focus on meaningful after-school activities that would encourage students to come to, and stay in, school.
At a recent candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington NAACP, both candidates voiced concerns about reading competency.
“Some of our students that are graduating are not proficient in reading,” Bryant said.
Prakash hit a similar theme. The school system’s on-time graduation rate may look “wonderful” on paper, she said, but some of those students are not able to read proficiently when they receive their diplomas.
Both candidates have been critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which they say affect people of all ages in Arlington’s immigrant communities. They praised recent efforts by Arlington school leaders to restrict access to federal law-enforcement personnel.
Unlike the County Board and House of Delegates primaries, which are taking place June 17 and are run by the state government, the School Board caucus is run by the Arlington County Democratic Committee.
Both online and in-person options for caucus voting are available.
Karantonis faces returning challenger
Karantonis, first elected to the County Board in 2020, is facing off against a repeat candidate with a focus on a perennial housing controversy.
In 2023, DeVita ran an unsuccessful primary challenge against Sen. Barbara Favola, earning 16% of all votes. He finished fourth out of five in last year’s Democratic primary for County Board, where he garnered 10% of the vote.
A lawyer by trade, he’s probably best known for his widespread yard signs, many of which focus on the county’s Missing Middle zoning changes.
Debate over Arlington’s Expanded Housing Options, which allowed for the construction of up to six-unit buildings in single-family-only neighborhoods, featured prominently in last year’s race for one open County Board seat.
A circuit court judge struck down the changes following a civil trial last September. The County Board voted to appeal that ruling in November.
Other issues listed on DeVita’s campaign website include cutting taxes for businesses, providing more support for federal workers, supporting more office-to-apartment conversions and advocating for “a new subway line” under Columbia Pike.
Karantonis, meanwhile, has waded into a series of challenges in his first few months as chair of the County Board. This is a time when changes at the federal level have brought mass layoffs and economic uncertainty to Arlington, in addition to controversies around topics like immigration enforcement and LGBTQ+ rights.
During this period, Karantonis has frequently acted as the Board’s public face: navigating conflicts with speakers and activists at meetings and providing statements to the press about many of the county’s thorniest issues.
Priorities listed on the chair’s campaign website include economic resiliency, housing affordability, climate change, equity and transparency.
Del. Hope’s challengers seek a new approach
There are some variations of opinion on key issues, but the main focus in the 1st District House of Delegates Democratic primary may be whether voters desire a legislative insider or alternatives who contend the old political ways are no longer working.
“Saying and doing the same things over and over will not change anything,” said Sean Epstein, who with Arjoon Srikanth is challenging incumbent Del. Patrick Hope in the June 17 primary.
The 1st House District includes much of central and northern Arlington. It is the only one of the three Arlington districts with a primary race this year, with incumbents Adele McClure in the 2nd and Alfonso Lopez in the 3rd not picking up challengers.
Hope, who is aiming to secure his ninth two-year term, said he wants to continue the job he began after first winning office in 2009.
“Just look at the progress we’ve made over the years,” Hope said at his March campaign kickoff in front of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.
Hope noted that he has shepherded more than 40 bills to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk over the past two years, although some were vetoed. A victory by Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the governor’s race could result in fewer obstacles to getting Democratic legislation enshrined into law.
Srikanth was the first to announce his candidacy in the 1st District. He kicked off his campaign in early February in front of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.
While saying Hope had served the district and community admirably, Srikanth used his kickoff at the Democratic Committee to press for change.
“We need a different kind of leadership,” he said. “We’re in a crisis.”
“I will never be above this community — I will be of this community,” Srikanth added.
Hope, however, counters that incumbency is no sin.
“I’ve delivered for Arlington and I know how to get things done,” he said at his campaign kickoff in March. “The stakes are just too high to sit on the sidelines.”
In his own kickoff in early April, Epstein said he would put “people over party” if elected.
“We can do better,” he said. “I don’t believe government is the problem, but I don’t believe it is the solution for everything.”
Given the composition of Arlington’s electorate, the general election is expected to heavily favor whichever candidate emerges as the Democratic nominee. Kamala Harris last year won about 79% of the vote in the 1st District.
