Arlington’s five-member legislative delegation heads into the General Assembly’s home stretch with a large number of its bills still alive.
Among the most successful was Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3), who got 21 pieces of legislation through the House of Delegates before crossover, the period when bills move to the opposite house for consideration.
Arlington’s state delegates aim to use a stronger majority and a new Democratic governor to push through legislation that had previously stalled.
Dels. Patrick Hope (D-1), Adele McClure (D-2) and Alfonso Lopez (D-3) all plan to return to past legislative priorities, resubmitting some bills and advancing new ones.
Arlington Democrats celebrated big wins at both the local and state level yesterday (Tuesday), connecting voters’ decisions to the Trump administration’s impacts on Virginia.
In speeches before a jubilant crowd at Fire Works Pizza in Courthouse, several victors in Arlington’s blue sweep lifted up the success of gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and other Democrats in statewide races on Election Day.
Takis Karantonis will get another term on the Arlington County Board.
The Democratic incumbent decisively defeated his divided competition in the County Board race, which was conducted via ranked choice voting.
As election results roll in tonight, ARLnow will be tracking the outcome of races affecting Arlington and Virginia as a whole.
Three of the highest offices in Virginia are on the ballot this year, as are three seats representing Arlington in the House of Delegates.
Election Day is off to a smooth start in Arlington, with about 8% voter turnout as of 9 a.m. following strong in-person early voting.
About 32,000 Arlington voters cast early in-person ballots this year, compared to 27,800 during the last gubernatorial election. However, mail-in ballots are down compared to 2021, a pandemic year: around 9,800 were cast this year compared to 14,800 in 2021.
The 2026 General Assembly session could bring another political tug-of-war between some County Board members and a state legislator representing the local community.
The past two years saw debate over the appropriate sequence of events in tackling any major change to Arlington’s governance structure.
Transportation planning and funding emerged as key issues when two incumbent House of Delegates members faced off against challengers at an Arlington debate this week.
Democratic incumbents touted the value of seniority, while Republican challengers pressed the need for new thinking.
Incumbents are advancing after today’s Democratic primary in Arlington.
There were two local races on the ballot — for a County Board seat and for the 1st District House of Delegates seat — and the incumbent candidate is well ahead in both.
Arlington voters have been turning out in slightly higher numbers in today’s Democratic primary, tracking with trends statewide.
As of 1:30 p.m., about 4% of registered voters had cast ballots, according to the Arlington Elections Office. That’s slightly more than at the same point last year, when 3.7% of the county had voted in the Democratic primary.
Del. Patrick Hope and one of his challengers in the Democratic primary are at odds over how new legislation on historic preservation will impact housing.
Arjoon Srikanth, who is facing Hope (D-1) in the June 17 primary, argued that legislation enacted last year will hold up development plans designed to meet housing goals.
Though still unsure about the necessity, Arlington’s County Board chair is preparing to move forward with a task force on governance-change options.
Takis Karantonis detailed the timeline to ARLnow. It is likely the panel will be established after the Board returns from its August recess.
