By BEN FINLEY Associated Press
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia won reelection to his third term Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Hung Cao.
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Fake Arlington Dems Sample Ballot — “Men claiming to be volunteers for Republican 8th District candidate Jerry Torres distributed fake sample ballots with the Arlington County Democratic Committee logo at at least one Alexandria polling location today. The sample ballots — distributed outside of John Adams Elementary School — have all Democratic candidates marked except for Torres.” [ALXnow]
Local Holiday Races — “‘Tis the season for running races. From early November through the end of 2024, you can meet your step goals while honoring veterans, wearing a turkey onesie or laughing all the way. Options run the gamut—ahem—from 5K flat courses to half-marathons on, well, still pretty flat courses.” [Arlington Magazine]
La Coop Opens New D.C. Cafe — After La Coop Coffee closed in D.C. in February, its only brick-and-mortar location was here in Arlington Forest. The café’s shuttered D.C. location has since moved to 500 Kennedy Street NW and opened for business last week. [PoPville]
Rainless Record Likely — “D.C.’s rainless streak — nearing five weeks — will tie a record Tuesday. The day is set to mark the 34th day in a row without measurable rain in Washington, equal to the previous longest streak set in 2007. Weather records in Washington date to 1872. The record is poised to be broken Wednesday, assuming there’s not a stray rain shower, which is just a slight possibility.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Wednesday — Expect partly sunny skies with a high around 79 degrees and southwest winds at 10 to 13 mph, gusting up to 22 mph. The night will be mostly cloudy, with temperatures dropping to around 63 degrees. The southwest wind of 6 mph will become calm after midnight. [NWS]
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This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Question: It seems like listings lingered on the market longer than usual this summer. Is that reflected in the market data?
Answer: The summer real estate market is usually slower than spring, but since late June, this summer has felt unusually slow compared with past summer markets. I analyzed Arlington homes listed for sale in July and August, going back to 2016, and found that we did indeed experience a historically slow summer market.
5-Bullet Cliff Notes
- Summer 2026 was slowest summer market since 2016
- Showing activity is down significantly
- Listing supply (homes for sale) is up significantly
- It is still a seller’s market, just more balanced
- Too early to accurately observe impact on prices
Slowest Summer Since 2016
Fewer homes listed in July and August went under contract within the first ten days on market (my preferred measure of market pace) than any summer since 2016.
The condo market experienced the brunt of that slowness, with the percentage of condos under contract within ten days falling 17.9 points below the trailing ten-year average. Arlington’s detached/townhouse/duplex market, one of the most robust sub-markets in the country, was not spared either; falling 6.7 points below the trailing ten-year average.
Lingering Inventory
The clearest sign of a summer slowdown is the amount of inventory that remained unresolved at the end of August. 53% of the listings entered in July and August were still active, compared with about 31% in 2025 and 27% from 2023-2025.
Even among July listings, which had at least a full month to attract a buyer, 36% remained active: more than twice the recent three-year rate. As of Aug 30, ~25% of all active summer listings had accumulated at least 30 days on market, and 9% accumulated at least 60 days.
Showings Down, Active Inventory Up
Showing data shows that we have fewer buyers in the market, not simply more indecisive/deliberate buyers. In the week ending August 23, showings in Arlington were down 7.9% from the prior week and 26.4% from the same week last year.
There are also a lot more homes for buyers to choose from, with active listings (homes listed for sale) up 2% from the week prior and 21.5% from the same week last year. Buyers will take longer to make decisions when they have more choices.
The Arlington trends are consistent with other Northern VA/DC Metro markets as well. In the DC Metro, weekly showings dropped to five-year lows in late June and remained there during most weeks of the summer. At the same time, the week ending August 23 delivered the most new listings to the market of any year since 2021, for the same week.
Total active listings in the DC Metro have been above the same week in the prior year since the second week of January 2025.
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Arlington and Falls Church residents went to the polls today to vote for president, local offices and everything in between.
As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, the results show — unsurprisingly — strong support for Democratic candidates across the ballot.
Arlington County Board
In the big local Arlington race for County Board, JD Spain, Sr. will win the seat being vacated by three-term Democrat Libby Garvey.
With early votes now in and breaking 60% for the Democratic nominee, Spain has 58% of the vote to 16% for Republican Juan Carlos Fierro and 12% for independent Audrey Clement. Madison Granger, who is associated with the Forward Party, has 13% of the vote.
In 2020, Garvey defeated a lone challenger — Clement — with 71% of the vote.
Voting in the Arlington County Board general election is being conducted this year, for the first time, via ranked choice voting. But if a candidate gets over 50% of the “first choice” votes — as Spain appears poised to do with only mail-in ballots outstanding — they will be declared the winner and ranked choice tabulation will not be used.
Arlington School Board
In the Arlington School Board race, Democratic-endorsed candidates Kathleen Clark and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley will cruise to victory.
Clark and Tapia-Hadley have 35.6% and 32.8% of the vote, respectively, so far. James Vell Rives, endorsed by the Forward Party, has 14.2% of the vote while independent Paul Weiss has 16.0%.
Arlington Bond Referenda
All five proposed local bonds, including school and Metro bonds, will pass — currently leading by 3-to-1 or 4-to-1.
Falls Church City Council
In the special election for Falls Church City Council Laura Downs has won with 58% of the vote to 41% for John Murphy, and all precincts reporting.
U.S. President
The Democratic Harris/Walz presidential ticket has a substantial lead over the Trump/Vance GOP ticket: 76.2% to 20.7% in Arlington — with all precincts reporting but mail-in ballots outstanding — and 79.5% to 17.9% in Falls Church.
By comparison, Trump received 17.1% of the vote in Arlington in 2020.
Third party candidates — including Jill Stein (G), Chase Oliver (L) and Cornel West (I) — have roughly 2% of the Arlington vote, while 1% of voters wrote someone in for president.
Statewide, Harris currently has 50.4% to 47.4% for Trump. Local political consultant Ben Tribbett, who often projects election night results in Virginia, says he believes Harris has won the Commonwealth.
8:45 PM PROJECTION: KAMALA HARRIS (D) HAS WON VIRGINIA AND 13 ELECTORAL VOTES.
— Ben Tribbett (@notlarrysabato) November 6, 2024
U.S. Senate
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine currently leads statewide with 53.1% of the vote to 46.7% for Republican challenger Hung Cao.
The Associated Press called the race for Kaine around 11:20 p.m.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine won reelection in Virginia for his third term Tuesday, beating Republican challenger Hung Cao. Kaine was widely expected to keep his role as the Commonwealth’s junior senator. Political scientists said there was only a narrow path to victory for Cao given Virginia’s moderate electorate, aversion to Trump in 2020 and Kaine’s salience with voters. Cao is a 25-year Navy veteran who had former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. But the most recent Republican to hold a Senate seat from Virginia was the late John Warner, a centrist who last won in 2002. The Associated Press declared Kaine the winner at 11:22 p.m.
U.S. Representative
Across Virginia’s 8th Congressional District — which includes Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County — incumbent Rep. Don Beyer (D) has 70.9% of the vote to 25.6% for Republican challenger Jerry Torres and just over 3% collectively for independents David Kennedy and Bentley Hensel.
The Associated Press called the race for Beyer shortly before 8:15 p.m.
Democratic Rep. Don Beyer won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Virginia on Tuesday. Beyer won his sixth term after defeating Republican Jerry Torres and two independent candidates. Beyer, a former lieutenant governor and ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, won each of his five previous congressional elections with at least 63% of the vote. The 8th District includes the inner suburbs of the nation’s capital, including Arlington County and Alexandria, and is one of Virginia’s most reliably Democratic districts. The Associated Press declared Beyer the winner at 8:13 p.m.
Turnout
Overall turnout in Arlington was above 70% as of 5 p.m., according to the county elections office. The final turnout may reach around 80%, but is not expected to set a local record.
Despite significant interest in the presidential race, voting in Arlington mostly went smoothly today, with most reports suggesting minimal wait times. Among the issues reported today are some confusion about ranked choice voting and an evening fire alarm at the Crystal Plaza polling location.
Scott McCaffrey contributed to this report
We love fall at Art House 7 and can’t wait for you to explore all our offerings. Painting, drawing, ceramics, and sewing/crocheting are our perennials, along with less traditional mediums. Kawaii Style Drawing and Digital Art are among our new classes for kids. We offer an excellent 6-week program for high schoolers preparing their college portfolios. Want something shorter? We have 3-week classes, including linocut notecards. Love ceramics? We have a dedicated studio that comfortably accommodates wheel and hand-building classes.
Fall 1 Session begins Tue. Sep. 8.
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As election results roll in tonight, ARLnow will be tracking the outcome of races in Arlington, Northern Virginia and across the Commonwealth.
Voters are casting ballots in all 11 of Virginia’s congressional districts this year, with majority control of both chambers of Congress hanging in the balance.
Add to Calendar
We’ve made the reservation. You’re invited.
Spend an evening discovering exceptional wines, live acoustic music, and community at Rosslyn’s newest event: Rosslyn Reserved. Enjoy a tasting experience with a sommelier from Screwtop Wine Bar, savory bites from local Charcuterie business, Graze Craze, and more!
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Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Nov 5, 2024.
It might not be a record-breaker, but Arlington ballots are adding up as the last three hours of voting approach.
And when all is said and done, turnout may be around 80% of the county’s 161,000 active registered voters.
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Arlington County police are looking for a pair of suspects who robbed the 7-Eleven in Bluemont Saturday night.
The suspects went behind the store’s counter, threatened to kill an employee unless they opened the registers, and then ran off with cigarettes and cash, according to an ACPD crime report and scanner traffic.
A new Caribbean fusion restaurant has popped up in the former space of Family Kabob House on Columbia Pike.
Soca Fusion, which blends Caribbean cuisine with Indian, Pakistani and Mediterranean influences, debuted last month at 3205 Columbia Pike.
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About 10% of Arlington voters have cast ballots today, as of 9 a.m., as Election Day got off to a relatively smooth start.
Arlington County Director of Elections Gretchen Reinemeyer said there have been no significant delays or reports of any major confrontations at the local polls so far.
Ever Wanted to Duel with a Sword or Hit a Bullseye? Fall Registration Is Open at Nova Fencing & Arch
There’s something a little bit magical about picking up a foil for the first time — or drawing back a bow and watching your arrow fly true. It’s why fencing and archery have such a hold on kids and adults alike: real focus, real skill, and a thrill you don’t get from the usual sports lineup.
This fall, Nova Fencing & Archery Club in Bailey’s Crossroads is opening registration for both, with beginner classes for every age starting the week of September 12th. Fencing welcomes ages 7 to 12 and teens and adults 13 and up. Explore Archery, coached by USA Archery certified instructors, welcomes ages 8 to 12 and meets Tuesdays or Saturdays. And for our youngest fencers, ages 4 to 6, ABC’s of Fencing meets on Saturdays. All classes run eight sessions for $195, equipment provided, no experience needed — yes, even for grown-ups who’ve never held a sword or a bow before.