Legislators representing Arlington are advancing matching bills to extend elections offices’ deadlines for receiving and counting absentee ballots.
HB 82 and SB 58, introduced by Del. Adele McClure (D-2) and State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-40), respectively, call for moving the deadline from noon to 5 p.m. on the third day after an election.
While questions around congressional redistricting will remain unresolved for months, campaigns for two seats that could represent Arlington are in full swing.
For now, all eyes are on an April 21 statewide referendum on whether to authorize dramatically redrawn districts for the U.S. House of Representatives. But that isn’t stopping candidates, political parties and officials in Arlington from launching into election season.
Arlington election officials have formally certified Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker’s overwhelming victory in the race to succeed State Sen. Adam Ebbin.
Across the entire district, the Bennett-Parker (D-39) won 83.4% of the vote in the Feb. 10 special election. In Arlington, she got 84.2% of the vote compared to 15.8% for Republican Julie Robben Lineberry, according to preliminary figures from the Virginia Department of Elections.
The Virginia Senate has approved a bill seeking to base presidential election results on the national popular vote rather than the electoral vote.
The Senate passed Sen. Adam Ebbin’s (D-39) national popular vote bill 21-19 on party lines Monday, and the House voted to engross a companion bill and will have a final vote today (Thursday).
School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton launched her reelection bid last week with a pledge to fight for students — and against the Trump administration.
“We’re all feeling the impact of this administration’s attacks on our values. We will not back down,” Zecher Sutton said during Wednesday remarks to about 200 people at the monthly Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is taking on challenges about his age and the possibility of a dramatically different constituency as he seeks reelection.
Beyer, who turns 76 in June, addressed the age issue at last week’s meeting of the Arlington County Democratic Committee. He also discussed potential congressional redistricting in a press release on Friday.
Newly proposed maps would split Arlington into two congressional districts as part of a statewide overhaul heavily favoring Virginia Democrats.
The proposal would keep a southern portion of Arlington in the 8th Congressional District, which currently encompasses all of the county and is represented by Rep. Don Beyer (D). This would extend as far south as York County in the Tidewater region.
U.S. Rep Don Beyer (D-Va.), currently seeking a seventh term in Congress, says he has “mixed feelings” on Virginia legislators’ redistricting proposal that is being blocked by a state judge.
Beyer, who represents Arlington and several neighboring localities in the 8th Congressional District, told ARLnow the current maps approved through the 2021 redistricting process made Virginia “one of the least gerrymandered in the country.”
Another candidate has entered a challenge against Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in the lawmaker’s first primary election in his 18 years on the Senate.
Mark Moran, a former reality television star and Wall Street investment banker who lives in Falls Church, announced his candidacy today (Wednesday), one year and one day after President Trump was sworn into office.
With the field of candidates now set, Arlington election officials are gearing up for the Feb. 10 special election in the 39th Senate District.
Democrats this week chose Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) as their candidate for the race, while Republicans have selected Julie Robben Lineberry, an Alexandria real-estate professional.
Falls Church election officials are once again planning to try to persuade school leaders to close one or more of the city’s schools during major future elections.
They’re particularly focused on Oak Street Elementary School, which serves as a polling place for one of the city’s three voting wards. (The Falls Church Community Center is the polling location for Wards 2 and 3.)
Members of the Arlington County Democratic Committee have elected a chair after a spirited race.
Paul Ruiz, who had served as deputy chair for the past two years, defeated finance chair Tony Weaver on Jan. 7 to succeed Steve Baker as party leader.
