An Arlington County Board candidate is threatening legal action if the county government places new limits on people’s ability to put campaign signs in public medians.
“I guarantee you that if they try to pass legislation to ban median signs, I will file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law as a violation of my First Amendment rights,” James DeVita told ARLnow. “I will also seek an injunction to prevent any such law from going into effect.”
DeVita, an attorney and repeat County Board candidate known for his creative campaign signage, is currently the lone challenger to County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti in the Democratic primary.
Proposed zoning changes related to median signs are slated for Planning Commission and County Board consideration this month. The current staff proposal seeks a ban on all signage — commercial as well as political — in county medians.
Currently, candidates can begin placing up to two signs per median strip up to 31 days before the start of early voting for all races. Unlike commercial signage, which can only be placed on medians during weekends, campaign signage can stay up throughout the election period.
Typically held in June, state primaries have been pushed back to Aug. 4 this year following General Assembly action related to congressional redistricting.
DeVita noted that signs have played a major role in his campaign strategy.
“My campaign signs were a huge part of my campaign last year,” he said. “I spent a lot of time knocking on doors and everywhere I went, voters told me that they had seen my signs and that they liked them because I was able to communicate my campaign positions through them, and it helped them to understand where I stood on the issues.”
After an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for a state Senate seat in 2023, DeVita ran in the Democratic primary for County Board in 2024 and 2025. He fell short of Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., and Takis Karantonis in those races, but made some progress along the way.
Scoring 9.5% of the vote in a five-way primary in 2024, DeVita took 36% of the vote in a one-on-one matchup against Karantonis last year.
“I think my signs were a big, big part of the reason that I went from 2,000 votes in 2024 to 9,300 votes in 2025,” he told ARLnow.
“Mr. de Ferranti and others on the County Board realize that my signs are effective and that I have a good chance to win. They are seeking to ban median signs as a way of trying to make it more difficult for me to win,” DeVita said. “It seems like a very Donald Trump-like thing to do.”
Responding to DeVita’s comments, de Ferranti told ARLnow that it was “premature to speculate what the County Board will do at its March meeting on signage.”
“I have not yet made up my mind on the topic,” he said. “I suggest we first listen to our neighbors and staff’s analysis before considering the implications of a ban.”
De Ferranti is hoping to win a third four-year term in office. While DeVita currently is his lone intra-party challenger, others could materialize before the April 2 filing deadline for the primary.
Independent candidates and the Arlington County Republican Committee have until mid-June to file for the Nov. 3 general election.
