There’s only one candidate running unopposed in Arlington this fall. But that doesn’t mean Del. Alfonso Lopez is taking election season off.
Lopez (D-3) is raising funds and rallying the troops in hopes Democrats will be “picking up tons of seats” in the House of Delegates.
Democrats currently hold 51 of the 100 delegate seats, all of which are on the Nov. 4 ballot, and the party privately is hopeful of picking up six or more from Republicans.
At the Oct. 8 Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting, Lopez rallied the party faithful to turn out and send a message against the Trump Administration in the upcoming election.
“The news is exhausting,” he said, criticizing the president and those working for him for “attacks on the helpless.”
Trump will not be on the ballot, but gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey are seen as bellwethers for public sentiment.
Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears “cannot hide from her record, or lack thereof,” Lopez said. “She’s an apologist for the Trump Administration.”
Later in his remarks, without tying this sentiment directly to the Republican nominee, Lopez did take what might have been construed as a shot at Earle-Sears’s campaign and policies.
“I know when someone’s an idiot,” he said.
As for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee? “We definitely know where Abigail Spanberger stands,” Lopez said.
An attorney, Lopez, 55, served in both federal and state staff positions before first running for House of Delegates in 2011. After defeating Stephanie Dix Clifford in the Democratic primary that year, he was unopposed in the general election.
Upon election, he became the first Latino elected to serve in the General Assembly.
Until redistricting after the 2020 census, Lopez represented the 49th House District, focused primarily on Arlington along and south of Columbia Pike but also including areas of Fairfax County around Bailey’s Crossroads.
With redistricting and renumbering of districts, his redrawn 3rd House District kept most of its Arlington coverage area, lost the Fairfax precincts but picked up precincts in the city of Alexandria.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the 3rd District comprises about 48,000 Arlington registered voters and 13,500 in Alexandria.
In his first race in the redrawn district, Lopez in 2023 won 83% of the vote against independent Major Mike Webb. The following year, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris received 77% of the district’s vote to 20% for Donald Trump.
Without opposition, Lopez’s public visibility has been limited during the campaign outside of walking neighborhoods to meet with voters in his district.
Because he is not facing a challenger, Lopez was not included in the Arlington County Civic Federation’s early-September candidate forum, although he recently participated in a “candi-dating“event sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Arlington and Alexandria City.
While Lopez has no challengers, his two fellow Arlington delegates have picked up Republican opponents:
- Del. Patrick Hope (D-1) is being challenged by Bill Moher II
- Del. Adele McClure (D-2) is facing off against Wendy Sigley
All three districts are considered Democratic strongholds, as are the two Virginia Senate seats in Arlington, currently represented by Barbara Favola and Adam Ebbin.
The commonwealth’s 40 Senate seats will next be on the ballot in November 2027.
