Candidates seeking to become Arlington’s next Democratic chair made their pitch to the party’s rank-and-file last week.
Tony Weaver and Paul Ruiz are vying to succeed Steve Baker, who has been at the Democratic helm for four years. Voting in early January will decide the race.
Fewer than 50 votes separate a winning and losing candidate for Falls Church School Board, meaning a recount could be in the works.
Electoral Board members certified the results Wednesday (Nov. 12). After tabulating provisional ballots and those received by mail by the Nov. 7 deadline, the margin between Kathleen Tysse (3,532) and Sharon Mergler (3,485) tightened from the 56-vote margin reported on Election Night to 47 votes upon certification.
The current deputy chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee has launched a bid to become the next chair, competing against another party leader.
Deputy Chair Paul Ruiz spent part of the Nov. 5 monthly party meeting working the room for support of his campaign to succeed Chair Steve Baker. He has said he wants to “build a Democratic committee that listens, builds up new leaders and leads with purpose.”
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Not everyone who voted in Northern Virginia in Tuesday’s election has felt the impact of President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal government, but even many who haven’t said they have colleagues or neighbors who are dealing with the consequences.
“I’ve seen so many federal families lose their jobs, lose their income, lose their certainty here,” said Karina Valdez, who voted at the Barcroft Sports & Fitness Center in Arlington.
Three incumbents and one newcomer on the Falls Church City Council ballot were elected yesterday (Tuesday), while the winner of the final seat on the School Board hangs in the balance.
Challenger Arthur Agin prevailed in the City Council race, as did incumbents Laura Downs, Marybeth Connelly and David Snyder. Agin will take the seat of Debora Schantz-Hiscott, who did not seek re-election, in January.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Jay Jones was elected Tuesday as Virginia attorney general, riding a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the White House to overcome the revelation that in 2022 he sent widely condemned texts embracing violence against a fellow state lawmaker.
The former Virginia delegate defeated Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares weeks after it emerged that Jones had texted a fellow delegate suggesting the then-House speaker should get “two bullets to the head.” Jones apologized for the private messages both in statements and at a debate in October.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, defeating Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to give Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections and make history as the first woman ever to lead the commonwealth.
Spanberger’s victory will flip partisan control of the governor’s office when she succeeds outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
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.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia voters are deciding a history-making race for governor Tuesday that will serve as a barometer of attitudes toward President Donald Trump and Democrats’ attempts to regain their footing on the national stage.
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, a staunch conservative who serves as Virginia’s lieutenant governor, and Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a center-left Democrat and former CIA case officer who helped her party win a House majority during Trump’s first presidency, are vying to become the first-ever woman to lead the commonwealth. Earle-Sears also would make history as the first Black woman elected governor in any state.
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.
As Election Day approaches tomorrow (Tuesday), Arlington County Board candidates have been shoring up plans to meet voters at the polls before watching the results come in.
While the Arlington County Democratic Committee has been tying up a few loose ends over the past week, it expects to have all 54 precincts covered throughout the day on Tuesday.
