With early and caucus voting underway, some candidates for local office are getting boosts from prominent Arlington Democrats.
Arlington is a Democratic stronghold for state and national politics. On the local level, that ethos has fueled intense focus on who will get the official support of the local party — even for non-partisan positions on the Arlington School Board.
Arlington residents may soon hear the dulcet sounds of John Legend on the phone, asking them to vote for Parisa Dehghani-Tafti.
The singer, songwriter, actor and media personality is again weighing in on the local race for Commonwealth’s Attorney. An advocate for justice reform, Legend endorsed Dehghani-Tafti in 2019 and has recorded an endorsement for the prosecutor’s reelection this year.
(Updated at 12:10 p.m.) Two candidates have emerged as top fundraisers ahead of this year’s Democratic primary: Natalie Roy for Arlington County Board and Josh Katcher for Commonwealth’s Attorney.
That’s according to newly-filed quarterly campaign financial reports.
(Updated at 11:40 a.m.) No defendant under 18 years old has been tried as an adult in Arlington County since Parisa Dehghani-Tafti became Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2020.
For Arlington’s top prosecutor, this is an important reform. It keeps children in a system designed for guiding them, and holding them accountable while providing rehabilitative services.
A fundraiser for Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Josh Katcher has drawn some notable local names.
Katcher is running in June’s Democratic primary to unseat his former boss, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, as Arlington’s top prosecutor. Both bill themselves as justice reformers, though Katcher is associating a local rise in crime — albeit one in line with national trends — with what he calls the “multiple failings” of Dehghani-Tafti’s leadership.
This Saturday, Arlington County’s top prosecutor, its Circuit Court clerk and some attorneys will help people who want their criminal record expunged for free.
The clinic will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday (Dec. 3) at Arlington Presbyterian Church, located off Columbia Pike at 918 S. Lincoln Street. It will provide everything attendees need in one place to request arrests that did not result in convictions be removed from their record.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti now has a challenger — someone who once worked for her.
Former Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Katcher will go up against the incumbent in the Democratic primary in June. Katcher was hired as Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney by Theo Stamos in 2012 and he was promoted to deputy in 2021 near the outset of Dehghani-Tafti’s tenure.
Parisa Dehghani-Tafti announced today (Tuesday) that she is running for reelection as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church.
Dehghani-Tafti, who campaigned on criminal justice reform, won her first term in 2019, after beating incumbent Theo Stamos (D) in a contentious and expensive primary that saw more than half a million dollars in donations to the challenger from a justice reform group.
A man who was charged in connection to the death of Darryl Becton in Arlington County jail in 2020 has been found not guilty.
Antoine Smith was charged in September 2021 with the misdemeanor of falsifying a patient record.
Flyover This Morning — Updated at 9:15 a.m. — “The US Air Force reports 2 flyovers in the NCR consisting of 4 military aircrafts (in both flyovers) at Arlington National Cemetery today, July 14… at 9:55AM and 11:43AM.” [PoPville]
Arlington Again No. 1 ‘Digital County’ — “Arlington County continues to be a national leader in technology, once again being recognized as the No. 1 Digital County by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. The 2022 award marks the fifth time that Arlington has received the top honor in the 150,000-249,999-population category.” [Arlington County]
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares visited Arlington yesterday (Thursday) to launch a political fund aimed at unseating progressive prosecutors.
The reform-minded approach of “left-wing liberal prosecutors” has “directly resulted in higher crime in our communities and they must be stopped,” Miyares said in a statement that specifically called out Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.
