Arlington Democrats have officially endorsed School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton’s bid for a second term.
Zecher Sutton was the lone candidate to seek the party’s endorsement prior to the Feb. 27 filing deadline. As a result, the planned May caucus was canceled, and party members unanimously voted to support her on Wednesday.
“I’m so grateful,” Zecher Sutton said. “I look forward to campaigning. I get to listen to people and ask what matters to them.”
Virginia considers school board positions nonpartisan, and party labels are not included on the ballot. However, political parties can endorse candidates in lieu of formally nominating them.
All five current Arlington School Board members received the Democratic endorsement before winning general-election victories. The last non-Democrat to serve on the body was Republican-leaning independent Dave Foster, who served from 2000 to 2008.
Zecher Sutton received 68% of the vote against James “Vell” Rives IV in November 2022. Last summer, her colleagues elected her to serve a one-year stint as chair.
Other potential candidates have until mid-June to file paperwork to run. None have filed yet, and with the backing of the Democratic Committee, Zecher Sutton would be the odds-on favorite even if she picks up opposition.
She told Democrats her plan for the coming months is to talk to the public, asking them “what do you think is working well, and what needs work” in the 28,000-student school division.
The other local race on the Nov. 3 ballot is a County Board contest. Incumbent Matt de Ferranti is being challenged in the Democratic primary by James DeVita.
State primaries, typically held in June, have been pushed back to August to address potential congressional redistricting.
As with Zecher Sutton, the winner of the County Board primary moves on to the general election as odds-on favorite in a community dominated by Democrats.
In the past 30 years, only two non-Democrats — Mike Lane and John Vihstadt — have served on the County Board. Lane, a Republican, served a brief stint in 1999, while Vihstadt, a Republican-leaning independent, served four and a half years from 2014 to 2018 before being defeated by de Ferranti.
