The Arlington County Democratic Committee handed its 2026 Distinguished Democrat awards to two organizers who spent years in the trenches of local politics.
Mary Detweiler and Jack Kinkaid both have fulfilled largely behind-the-scenes duties, mobilizing local efforts and coordinating campaign activities such as distributing median signs and overseeing precinct operations.
Individually and as part of broader teams, the two have helped maintain and expand Democratic dominance in Arlington, speakers said on Saturday.
“There is a responsibility for all of us as citizens to be involved and participate. We need dedicated people,” county Democratic chair Paul Ruiz said at the gathering.
Former party chair Kip Malinosky noted that Detweiler became involved in the local party around 2004, while Kinkaid followed in 2012.
“We all have an enormous debt” to both recipients, Malinosky said.
Others lined up to sing praises of the recipients.
“Jack is one of the most dedicated people I’ve ever had the fortune of working with,” said Fatima Argun, a veteran Democratic activist.
The recognition, she said, was “way overdue.”
Tony Weaver compared Detweiler to a magnet, attracting like-minded people and encouraging their involvement.
“She has worked to mobilize and activate everyone she comes in contact with,” Weaver said.
Carol Burnett, a veteran party activist and currently Democratic sergeant-at-arms, said that while she was no fan of public speaking, “for these two, I will do it.”
“These are two of my best friends,” Burnett said.
The afternoon ceremony held in Aurora Highlands got off to a surprise start with Detweiler and Kinkaid — both musicians — performing a duet.
“I bet you weren’t expecting this,” said Laura Saul Edwards, who helped organize the event. “We usually don’t make our Distinguished Democrats work for their lunch.”
Both recipients said local Democrats benefit from a multigenerational volunteer corps. It isn’t so much passing the torch as it is helping to light those of others, the recipients said.
“Finding new leaders means working right alongside them,” Detweiler said. “Even the smallest contribution is in support of an end goal — it is part of a greater whole.”
Detweiler played a key role in convincing Jim Webb to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2006, and two years later, she played key support roles in Barack Obama’s presidential bid.
Kinkaid, who grew up in Arlington and graduated from what then was Washington-Lee High School, was a longtime federal employee who, in retirement, began working with local Democrats during Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
He said he appreciated the recognition, but also enjoyed toiling largely in anonymity with other volunteers.
“We don’t do what we do to get recognized,” Kinkaid said, while expressing appreciation for joining the ranks of those who, through the years, have received what amounts to a Democratic lifetime-achievement award.
“I had no idea it would happen to me,” he said.
Party officials said the two were selected for the honor because they prove that “persistent, community-level organizing can change history.”
Last year’s recipient of the accolade was Carol Fontein, who handled local Democrats’ precinct operations for years. She marshalled resources in a get-out-the-vote operation jokingly referred to as the civilian counterpart to a wartime Panzer division, rolling over every obstacle standing in its way.
“Whenever I got a call from Carol, it meant I had something to do,” Kinkaid said laughingly.
Other recipients of the awards have included Tom and Mary Margaret Whipple, Richard and Jean Barton, Cragg Hines, Marjorie Hobart, Peg Hogan, Charley Conrad, Herschel Kanter, Joan McDermott, Charlene Bickford and Sharon Davis.
A video of tributes to Detweiler and Kinkaid will be featured on the Democratic Committee’s YouTube channel.
