Members of the Arlington County Democratic Committee have elected a chair after a spirited race.
Paul Ruiz, who had served as deputy chair for the past two years, defeated finance chair Tony Weaver on Jan. 7 to succeed Steve Baker as party leader.
“We have work to do,” Ruiz said after his election to a two-year term as party chair.
Vote totals were not announced, but Arlington Democrats said a record 450 people had signed up to participate in voting, held at Washington-Liberty High School.
“You’re here because you care about the direction of the party,” Ruiz told those who stayed until the meeting’s end to learn the results. He challenged them to “turn this energy into action.”
“Strong local parties matter,” Ruiz said, because they can “protect democracy in a way no one else can.”
The chair race was one of three contested campaigns at the Democratic reorganization meeting. Austin Locke defeated Marrett Ceo to succeed Weaver as finance chair, and Bryant Atkins defeated William Driscoll for parliamentarian.
Baker had served two two-year terms as party chair, which has typically been seen as the limit. The race for 2026-27 chair got an early start when Weaver launched his bid last spring. Ruiz followed with a formal kickoff in November.
Both Ruiz and Weaver lined up an array of political leaders in support of their candidacies. They made their cases directly to the rank and file with stump speeches at both the December and January meetings.
In remarks after the vote, Weaver was conciliatory.
“Paul’s going to be a great leader for us,” he predicted.
Losing the race doesn’t mean Weaver can’t stage a comeback later. Baker lost the chair’s race to Jill Caiazzo in 2020, but won it against Matt Royer in 2022. He was unopposed in 2024.
Because voting was only available in person, the meeting attracted both new faces and seasoned veterans, including Mary Margaret Whipple, Sharon Davis, Susan Prokop, Jim Turpin, John Milliken, Elaine Furlow, Libby Garvey, Joan McDermott and Beth Arthur.
Milliken, who was elected party chair in the early 1970s, was among those marveling at the turnout. Baker said the mix of enthusiastic younger members and experienced older ones was crucial for the party’s health.
“We need both on our committee,” he said.
Leaders elected without opposition included Sarah Flourance as deputy chair, Rachel Halpern as precinct-operations chair, Michelle Kilkenny as voter-support chair, Bryan Coleman as outreach/visibility chair, Fatima Argun as inclusion/equity chair and Nancy Pilchen as volunteer coordinator.
Also elected without opposition were Inta Malis as treasurer, Bokar Cherif as secretary, Daniel Visnovsky as communications director, Owen Williams as public-relations chair and Carol Burnett as sergeant-at-arms.
The party also elected a slate of precinct captains, who serve as the ground troops in Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts.
The new year could prove a long one on the Arlington political scene. April could bring a statewide special election to deal with congressional redistricting, followed by party primaries in June and/or August, then the general election in November.
In addition, a special election to fill Sen. Adam Ebbin’s seat is likely to be held in mid-February.
The Nov. 3 general election ballot in Arlington will include single seats for County Board and School Board, as well as for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Arlington Republicans, who have been underdogs in Arlington elections since the early 1980s, seem to have been further marginalized following the election of Donald Trump. In last November’s County Board race, the GOP candidate — Bob Cambridge — finished third behind Democratic incumbent Takis Karantonis and perennial protest candidate Audrey Clement.
