Asked to name national political figures they admire, aspirants for the County Board cast a wide net from left to right across the political spectrum.
The question was posed by former Board member John Vihstadt at the Sept. 2 Arlington County Civic Federation debate. A Republican and three independents are challenging incumbent Democrat Takis Karantonis in the Nov. 4 election.
Karantonis said he admired Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who has “shown how this country can stand up, can overcome a very heavy history and can win the future.”
“I have the utmost respect for her ability to unite people and bring back the decency in politics,” Karantonis said.
If he was limiting the selection to Democrats currently in office, Karantonis said he would pick another Peach State politician, Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Perhaps the finest line in responding was walked by Republican Bob Cambridge, who came up with a man reviled by many in the county: President Donald Trump.
Cambridge’s embrace of Trump came with some caveats.
“I hesitate to say Trump, because I don’t like the way he talks and I don’t like the way he addresses himself … but he’s a businessman and he gets things done,” Cambridge said. “That’s how we need to look at problems.”
Running for office in a community that typically gives 70% to 80% of its vote to the other party, the GOP’s Cambridge said he had admiration for some national Democratic leaders.
“There are some good Democrats out there,” he said, without specifying any but joking that he “knew both of them.”
Independent Jeramy Olmack said two Democratic House members — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington — topped his list.
“Both of them have been really working to address and meet the moment we’re currently in,” Olmack said.
Carlos De Castro “D.C.” Pretelt, another independent, did not have the exact name at the tip of his tongue. But he seemed to be referencing former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) as his selection.
Sasse in January 2021 was one of seven Senate Republicans voting to convict Trump after impeachment by the House of Representatives.
“He stuck to his guns and paid the price, but did the right thing,” Pretelt said.
Sasse in 2023 resigned from the Senate to become president of the University of Florida. He left the post under a cloud a year later.
Independent Audrey Clement came up empty in finding a national political leader she admired.
“I’ve got to tell you, I’m drawing a blank,” she said. “It’s a fair question, but I can’t answer it, and I think the principal reason why is I’m up against a two-party system. I don’t like officials in either party.”
Pretelt agreed with Clement that the two-party system did not encourage exceptionality in elected leaders.
“That is because of the incentives of the two-party duopoly that force these well-meaning individuals — well-rounded, wildly smart, driven, selfless — into taking these toxic positions,” Pretelt said.
The second section of Vihstadt’s two-part question was to name a local leader the candidates admired.
Olmack and Clement each mentioned Natalie Roy, a civic activist and two-time candidate for the Democratic nomination for County Board.
“She’s one of the candidates I followed when I first moved to Arlington, and she has done some great work,” Olmack said.
Karantonis referenced county library director Diane Kresh, for her “relentless” efforts on behalf of the community.
Pretelt and Cambridge ran out of their allotted one-minute response time answering about national candidates before they could answer the local part of Vihstadt’s question.
After the meeting, Vihstadt told ARLnow he posed his questions in an effort to add something new to a typical candidate forum.
“I wanted to elicit a more personal element to the candidates than just another query about trees or taxes,” he said.
