Adam Theo (who goes by “Theo”) has launched a campaign for Arlington County Board as an independent candidate. This 2021 bid will establish an organization, raise issues, and build name recognition. He intends to run again in 2022 or 2023 to win a seat on the Arlington County Board to fix serious problems in the community that a monopoly of one-party rule does not address.
Theo, aware of the time and resources needed along the road ahead, remarked: “Having just one political party is bad for everyone. It creates a government and elected officials that are unresponsive, slow, and poorly plan for looming crisis in housing affordability, public safety, protecting local businesses, and school overcrowding. The power of the Arlington Dems over Arlington isn’t in the quality of their ideas or candidates. It’s in their organization and fundraising prowess, and that’s where a challenger needs to be ready.”
A self-described “Independent Progressive Libertarian”, Theo will bring new ideas and practical solutions to real problems facing Arlington County. He is deeply concerned about the financial suffering that homeowners and small businesses have faced– even well before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever, he fears for the community if “Missing Middle” and affordable housing opportunities are not immediately expanded. To Theo, the challenges of police reform, public safety, government transparency and accountability, as well as a successful recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic are all tied together.
Theo currently serves as the Secretary of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association (BVSCA) and is a voting delegate to the Arlington County Civic Federation. He has never affiliated as a member of either major party. Since 2018, he has served as the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Northern Virginia (LPNOVA), the local affiliate of the national Libertarian Party. As Chair, he has tripled its active volunteer base; established dedicated communications, policy, and community service teams; and expanded the organization into Loudoun County.
A long-time communications consultant and video producer, he has worked within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Navy, and public television. He is also a veteran and served almost a decade in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, deploying to eastern Afghanistan in 2011 as a structural civil engineer.
Bringing a unique perspective to Arlington County politics, Theo has gone through the criminal justice system in his home state of Florida, having served four months in county jail there in 2000. He has also twice been homeless, living out of a backpack or a car as recently as 2010. These are formative stories he is happy to share and have made him uniquely suited to empathize with and serve all Arlingtonians.
Theo’s campaign website can be found at TheoForArlington.org, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @TheoForARL.