The two-month sprint to Election Day in Arlington begins next Tuesday as the Arlington County Civic Federation holds its annual candidate forum.
The Civic Federation is typically the first organization to hold a fall election-themed forum. This year, the event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 2 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Hazel Auditorium at VHC Health.
Candidates expected to attend the event are as follows.
- For County Board: Takis Karantonis, Bob Cambridge, Audrey Clement, Jeramy Olmack, Carlos De Castro “DC” Pretelt
- For School Board: Moe Bryant, James “Vell” Rives IV, Major Mike Webb
- For House District 1: Patrick Hope, William Moher III
- For House District 2: Adele McClure, Wendy Sigley
“We’re going to cover all four contested local races: County Board, School Board and House of Delegates Districts 1 and 2,” Civic Federation chair Nicholas Giacobbe told ARLnow. “I’ve received confirmations from all 12 candidates that they will participate.”
The event will be streamed live online and archived for later viewing.
Giacobbe will moderate the debates for County Board and House of Delegates, while Todd Truitt — who chairs the Federation’s schools committee — will take on moderating duties for the School Board debate.
“We’ll do the usual format: opening statement, questions from the floor and folks at home, and a closing statement,” said Giacobbe, who in June was elected to a one-year term as Civic Federation president. He succeeded John Ford, who led the organization for three years.
Four of five local races have competition this year, with only Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3) running unopposed.
The County Board race again will be held under ranked-choice rules, with voters allowed to rank up to three of the five candidates on the ballot.
Advance Arlington (formerly the Arlington Committee of 100) is planning a forum on ranked-choice voting at its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. at Lubber Run Community Center. The meeting also will be streamed live and archived.
“We begin this program year with ranked-choice voting because knowing how leaders are chosen is central to informed participation,” Advance Arlington board Chair Devanshi Patel told ARLnow. “We are proud to provide a dialogue-driven space for Arlingtonians to engage thoughtfully and make informed choices at the ballot box.”
Residents do not need to be delegates to the Civic Federation or members of Advance Arlington to attend the programs.
Other organizations may set up candidate forums in advance of the Nov. 4 election. Early voting begins Sept. 19.
In addition to County Board, School Board and House of Delegates races, Arlington voters will join other Virginians in casting ballots for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
