With their own candidates far ahead in early returns, Arlington Democrats spent the first hours of election night in Shirlington watching the rest of the country.
The Associated Press projected Sen. Mark Warner (D) the winner minutes after Virginia polls closed at 7 p.m. It called Rep. Don Beyer’s (D) race shortly after 8 p.m., and the party’s local slate held wide leads.
Warner and Beyer claimed victory at Warner’s election night event at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. There, Beyer said he doesn’t expect a “warm and friendly relationship” with President Donald Trump if Democrats win control of Congress.
“I think we will try to use the budgets and the debt ceiling coming up as leverage points to stop the most odious things that he’s doing,” Beyer said. He added that Democrats would also prioritize oversight of the administration: “Sunlight is a great disinfectant.”
The bigger question in the room was whether Democrats would win back Congress. They need a net gain of three House seats and four Senate seats to do that, according to the Associated Press. Democrats flipped one of those Senate seats shortly before 8:30 p.m., when AP projected a Democratic win in North Carolina.
“And now we wait. Grab a drink, have some fun,” Austin Locke, finance chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee and emcee for tonight’s watch party at Astro Beer Hall, told the crowd as polls closed.
Candidates kept their remarks brief. County Board member Matt de Ferranti (D) said he was “super grateful” to the more than 700 local Democratic volunteers.
“You made this election happen,” he said.
“The No. 1 value I hold is inclusion. We’re a party of inclusion,” said School Board member Bethany Zecher Sutton, who is seeking a second term against challenger James Vell Rives IV.
Treasurer Kim Rucker said she was “very grateful,” adding, “this is work I love to do.” She thanked former treasurers Frank O’Leary and Carla de la Pava “for believing in me and mentoring me.”
Rucker became treasurer automatically in July, when de la Pava retired. Tonight’s special election fills the final year of de la Pava’s term.
Four Republican-held U.S. House seats in Virginia were competitive in early statewide returns. As of around 9 p.m., Democrats led in three of them: Elaine Luria over Rep. Jen Kiggans in the 2nd District, Tom Perriello over Rep. John McGuire in the 5th, and Shannon Taylor over Rep. Rob Wittman in the 1st, by just 134 votes. Rep. Ben Cline (R) led in the 6th.
Arlington results so far
Arlington’s results so far include Election Day votes from all 54 precincts and part of the early vote. Mail ballots haven’t been reported yet.
Election Day turnout was down from four years ago, but early voting was up more than 50%. As of 5 p.m., 26.1% of voters had cast ballots in person today, according to the county’s last turnout update. That compares with 34% at the same point in 2022. Even with ballots still outstanding, 92,149 had been counted as of around 9 p.m., already more than 2022’s final total of 91,805.
As of around 9 p.m.:
- U.S. Senate: Warner 84.1%, Bert Mizusawa (R) 15.6%. Statewide, Warner had 59.7% with 127 of 133 localities reporting.
- U.S. House, 8th District: Beyer 81.8%, Tony Sabio (R) 15.5%, Tim Sharman (I) 1.4%, Shelly Arnoldi (L) 1.2%
- County Board: de Ferranti 69%, Audrey Clement (I) 22%, David Sisson (I) 8% in first-choice votes. The ranked-choice count only goes to additional rounds if no candidate tops 50%.
- School Board: Zecher Sutton 77.8%, Rives 21.1%
- Treasurer: Rucker 86%, Aasim Rawoot 12.8%
All five county bond referendums, totaling $264 million, were passing with at least 76.4% of the vote. Support ranged from 76.4% for community infrastructure to 87.8% for utilities.
All three state constitutional amendments were also passing, both in Arlington and statewide. Statewide, with 127 of 133 localities reporting:
- Reproductive rights: 61.8% yes
- Same-sex marriage: 57.3% yes
- Voting rights for people with felony convictions: 55.4% yes
In Arlington, the three amendments had between 78.3% and 84.2% support.
Scott McCaffrey contributed to this report.
