The unexpected departure of a major pro-transit voice in the Virginia General Assembly has created a void that an Arlington legislator appears primed to fill.
Del. Adele McClure (D-2), who sits on the House Committee on Transportation, has provided a key voice in various recent discussions on transit. In the 2026 General Assembly session, she could step into the shoes left behind by former Del. Mark Sickles (D-17), who is leaving his elected post to become Virginia’s next Secretary of Finance.
Sickles had become the public face of funding legislation, at least in the House of Delegates, in recent months. He participated in a Dec. 15 forum on transportation funding before Gov. Abigail Spanberger tapped him to join her Cabinet about a week later.
Voters in his Fairfax County district will choose a successor in a Jan. 20 special election.
McClure, meanwhile, sits on the House Committee on Transportation and was a member of the SJ28 subcommittee that, in November, made recommendations for an additional $400 million in annual dedicated funding to support the Metro system, Virginia Railway Express and Northern Virginia bus networks.
She was also a participant in the Dec. 15 transportation funding discussion, hosted by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) and Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC).
“This dedicated funding would mean improvements in reliability, in service,” McClure said there. “We need to make sure we are dedicating the resources necessary.”
Noting that the audience was composed of activists, planners and elected officials, McClure acknowledged it was not a group she needed to win over.
“I feel like I’m preaching to the choir,” she said.
Instead, Northern Virginia transit proponents will need to gain traction with downstate legislators. Despite Democratic, and presumably pro-transit, majorities in the General Assembly, there is no guarantee of success during the 60-day legislative session beginning Jan. 14.
“We really need to figure out how to tell this story,” said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay, participating on the same panel.
McKay said efforts during 2025 to develop plans for dedicated transit funding represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“There are so many ways this helps our region,” he said of the proposals.
The request for $400 million in additional Northern Virginia taxing authority for transportation, through options like an increased sales tax, is a fiscally responsible approach, McKay contends.
“It’s a doable number,” he said.
Taking on a high-visibility role on transit funding would be a step forward in McClure’s political journey. She was first elected in 2023 and easily won re-election over Republican Wendy Sigley in November.
In the McClure-Sigley race, both candidates pressed their visions for transportation in the local area.
The 2nd House District includes swaths of eastern and central Arlington. At the recent forum, McClure noted that it is home to more Metrorail stations than any other delegate district in Northern Virginia.
The forum was headlined by Katie Cristol, who spent nearly eight years on the County Board before leaving office months early to become CEO of the Tysons Community Alliance.
In her remarks, Cristol said improved transit “provides a blueprint for the future we want.”
“Transit in Northern Virginia is cool again,” Cristol said. “Northern Virginia transit riders are starting to take pride once again in how we get around.”
When in elected office, Cristol had served on the boards of both NVTC and PRTC.
