Arlington Democrats

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Rosslyn at sunset (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Dems to Discuss School Board Caucus — “Unsurprisingly, perhaps, into this climate of culture war skirmishes surrounding public education comes opposition to the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s long-standing caucus process and even opposition to Democratic endorsement of candidates for school boards seats… At its February meeting, Arlington Democrats will debate the issues raised by its critics and vote on whether and how to change its caucus and endorsement process.” [Blue Virginia]

Winter Outdoor Dining Guide — “Before the pandemic, we never imagined that al fresco dining season in Northern Virginia would stretch into the teeth of winter. And while the wave of the latest Omicron cases seems to have peaked (fingers crossed!), those who are cautious about Covid but still want to support local businesses might choose to eat outside in the fresh air. Here are 11 restaurants cranking up the heat on outdoor dining spaces, and adding fun elements like fire pits or tented igloos.” [Arlington Magazine]

Steep HQ2 Energy Offset Costs — “The cost for Amazon.com Inc. to offset carbon emissions at its PenPlace development and meet Arlington County’s energy expectations will run upward of $5 million, according to a study by the company’s Seattle consultant.” [Washington Business Journal]

Beyer Calls for Long Covid Data — “A pair of Democratic House members asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a letter Tuesday to release data on the number of Americans who suffer lingering symptoms of coronavirus infection, including breakdowns along race, gender and age… Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who has sponsored legislation to fund studies of long covid, co-signed the letter with Pressley.” [Washington Post, U.S. House of Representatives]

More on Pentagon City Apartment Upgrades — “An existing 12-year-old apartment high-rise adjacent to what will be Amazon’s massive HQ2 campus, Metropolitan Park, in Arlington County, Virginia, has been acquired… and the investors plan a multimillion makeover fitting for HQ2’s panache. ‘We are going to make these apartments the coolest and most desirable homes on the park,’ said Steve Schwat, UIP founding principal.” [WTOP]

Two Crystal City Hotels Sold — “An Atlanta real estate investment manager has acquired a pair of Crystal City hotels a little more than a month after their former owner primed them for future redevelopment. Affiliates of Noble Investment Group paid a combined $64.3 million in mid-December for the 162-room Hampton Inn & Suites Reagan National Airport and the 248-room Hilton Garden Inn, according to Arlington County land records… There do not appear to be immediate changes planned for the hotels themselves, except for their names.” [Washington Business Journal]

It’s Wednesday — Today will be sunny, with a high near 30. Sunrise at 7:18 a.m. and sunset at 5:23 p.m. Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high near 33. [Weather.gov]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Snowy bridge in Rock Spring Park (Flickr pool photo by Wolfkann)

New Leadership for Local Dems — “The Arlington County Democratic Committee went with the more centrist option on Jan. 5, electing Steve Baker to a two-year term as party chair. Baker defeated Matt Royer in the balloting, held at the party’s biennial reorganization meeting. Baker promised to use his leadership post as ‘a collaboration and a partnership’ and ‘keep Arlington Democrats a big-tent party.'” [Sun Gazette]

W&OD Bridge Work Has Started — From BikeArlington: “Work on the @WODTrail bridge [near the caboose] was delayed but has begun today. Please follow detour signs onto the Four Mile Run Trail.” [Twitter]

Amazon Donates to Local Nonprofit — “Amazon.com Inc. donated $25,000 to Arlington nonprofit Boolean Girl to support the organization’s workshops that teach young students how to code and build electronics. Amazon’s gift from November boosts the Clubhouse educational program to meet weekly instead of monthly.” [Washington Business Journal]

It’s Friday — Following the overnight snowfall, today will be sunny, with a high near 30. Northwest wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Sunrise at 7:29 a.m. and sunset at 5:02 p.m. Saturday will be sunny, with a high near 33. Sunday there’s chance of freezing rain and sleet before 9 a.m, then rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Wolfkann

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
The Rosslyn Christmas tree (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Koch Groups Moving to Ballston — “A group of nonprofits founded and supported in part by billionaire Charles Koch are moving to a combined 185K SF in the Ballston Exchange office complex owned by Jamestown, sources confirmed to Bisnow. Stand Together, Americans for Prosperity and the Charles Koch Institute, in addition to affiliated organizations, plan to occupy the space in 2023, a source familiar with the deal said.” [Bisnow]

Football and History in Halls Hill — “They were there — about a hundred mostly Black residents and former residents, gathered together on this sunny, crisp Thanksgiving morning — for the neighborhood’s annual Turkey Bowl… For more than fifty years, so-called ‘Old Heads’ in maroon jerseys and ‘Young Heads’ in yellow have squared off in this Halls Hill tradition — ‘since before Martin Luther King’s birthday was a holiday,’ says one longtime resident, Paul Terry, who has been living in Halls Hill since 1968. ‘It’s always fun.'” [DCist]

Parent Group Demands Schools Stay Open — “‘Students belong in school. Closing school buildings did nothing to reduce or mitigate spread the first time we tried it, and caused extensive harm that has yet to be remedied,’ said Arlington Parents for Education in a Dec. 21 statement. Prior to departing on a two-week holiday period, school-system leaders gave no inkling that a return to online-learning was anticipated, although Superintendent Francisco Durán did encourage families to behave responsibly over the holidays so schools could remain open in the new year.” [Sun Gazette]

Long-Time Local Judge Retires — “Having served the people of his hometown in judicial robes for a quarter-century, George Varoutsos was honored Dec. 17 as that tenure came to an end. Varoutsos – a judge of the 17th Judicial District Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court (serving Arlington and Falls Church) since 1998 – was lauded by colleagues and civic leaders during a ceremony held at the Arlington County Justice Center.” [Sun Gazette]

No Candidates for Dem PR and Equity Roles — “The Arlington County Democratic Committee’s upcoming leadership election will feature three contested races, eight unopposed races and three where no one filed by the Dec. 10 deadline… Three elected positions – voter-support chair, press-and-PR chair and inclusion-and-equity chair – did not receive any candidates and will be filled later.” [Sun Gazette, Sun Gazette]

It’s Thursday — Today will be sunny, with a high near 41. Sunrise at 7:24 a.m. and sunset at 4:50 p.m. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, will be partly sunny, with a high near 53, with rain possible overnight and on Christmas Day. [Weather.gov]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Crew boats in the Potomac River at twilight near Rosslyn (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Homes Coming to Large N. Arlington Property — “The Febrey-Lothrop estate in the county’s Dominion Hills neighborhood, located at 6407 Wilson Blvd. not far from the Fairfax County line, will soon see work begin on nine two-story homes, according to county permit records. The permit applications were filed last month by the property’s new owner: KLTOLL AIV LLC, a company controlled by New York-based Kennedy Lewis Investment Management…. Elise Cleva, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development, noted in an email the plans aren’t set in stone and ‘could change at any point if the owners decide not to construct all nine or if any issues prevent them from constructing the intended number of houses.'” [Washington Business Journal]

Demolition of 19th Century Home — “The circa-1889 Fellows-McGrath House in East Falls Church was being demolished [Monday], making way for a new home or homes. Photo courtesy of Charlie Clark.” [Twitter]

Bomb Squad Response in Courthouse — From yesterday afternoon: “There’s a suspicious package response on the 1300 blk of N. Courthouse Road, a block from the county government and police headquarters. Police requested the bomb squad respond to the location around 10:15 a.m., per ACPD. Sounds like the closed roads will reopen soon.” [Twitter]

Police: Drunk, Armed Man Arrested in Rosslyn — “N. Lynn Street at Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 4:08 a.m. on December 5, police were dispatched to the report of a male asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle. Upon arrival, officers located the running vehicle, made contact with the sole occupant who was in the driver’s seat and observed a firearm in plain view on the passenger’s seat… During a search of the vehicle prior to towing, ammunition was recovered. [The suspect], 45, of Accokeek, MD, was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence, Refusal of Breath/Blood Test and Violent Felon in Possession of a Firearm.” [ACPD]

Tucker Carlson Interrupts Dems at Meeting — “The Dec. 1 Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting was held in person, but also broadcast online via YouTube for those unable to attend. Technological gremlins… were in evidence. The meeting began about 15 minutes past its scheduled 7 p.m. start time when the YouTube connection proved unstable. Far worse, indeed horrific, from a Democratic point of view: Midway through the meeting, the screen that was used for PowerPoint presentations at the meeting suddenly started serving up the sounds of… Tucker Carlson on FOX News.” [Sun Gazette]

Wakefield Football Coach Steps Down — “Wayne Hogwood’s successful nine-year tenure the winningest head coach in the history of the Wakefield High School football program has come to an end. Hogwood stepped down in recent days because of family matters. He has three young children who are heavily involved in multiple youth sports, and Hogwood wants to spend time for the next couple of years, or so, being involved with watching them play during the fall and helping his wife transporting the three to games and practices.” [Sun Gazette]

It’s Tuesday — Cold weather is back and snow is on the horizon. Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 41. Sunrise at 7:14 a.m. and sunset at 4:45 p.m. Tomorrow there is a slight chance of rain, snow, and sleet before 7am, then rain and snow likely between 7am and 4pm, then snow likely after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. [Weather.gov]

Arlington remains Democratic stronghold, but GOP celebrates education-driven inroads

By Jo DeVoe
Voting on Tuesday at Swanson Middle School in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) Last night’s election gave Arlington’s local Republican and Democratic parties both reason to celebrate, while at the state level, Democrats ceded ground to the GOP.

Arlington maintained its reputation as a solidly blue county Tuesday night, with a majority of voters supporting every Democrat-endorsed or supported candidate and bond referenda on the ballot.

Meanwhile, Arlington’s Republican party says it is celebrating greater enthusiasm for the party locally than it has seen in years. At the state level, Republicans swept Richmond: Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin beat former governor Terry McAuliffe, while fellow Republicans Lieutenant Governor-elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares became the first Black woman and Latino respectively to win statewide office.

“Terry was a low-energy candidate,” Arlington GOP Communications Director Matt Hurtt said. “Glenn was a dynamic candidate who enthused Republicans and independents. You have to believe a candidate is going to win, and Republicans believed Glenn was going to win. Even in a place like Arlington, we had a 33% increase [in Republican votes].”

At the county level, 60% of voters secured the re-election of incumbent Democrat Takis Karantonis to the Arlington County Board. Voters handily elected Arlington Democrats-endorsed Mary Kadera to the Arlington School Board, succeeding Monique O’Grady.

Arlington re-elected Virginia House of Delegates members Patrick Hope (D-47), Rip Sullivan (D-48), and Alfonso Lopez (D-49), while Democrat Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, currently the City of Alexandria’s vice mayor, was elected to represent the 45th District, which includes parts of Arlington.

“The tremendous outpouring of Democratic support in Arlington was inspiring and contributed to victories in several critical races,” Arlington County Democratic Committee Chair Jill Caiazzo said in a statement. “At the end of the day, we fell short statewide, but we’re confident that the Democratic leaders elected today will continue the fight for a brighter future in Virginia for everyone.”

Karantonis, who has been through three county-wide elections in 20 months, says largely, the priorities of Arlingtonians — and his three vanquished independent candidates — remain the same: housing, healthcare, economic development, the environment, equity, schools and transportation.

“I do believe this election season has underscored the set of issues that have been present along the entire 20 months that I’ve been in political campaign mode,” he said. “It was just a re-emphasis on things that residents need, and I’ve been proposing approaches that could bring measurable improvement.”

Republicans ride education to victory 

While Arlington had a solidly Democrat showing, Hurtt said enthusiasm for Republicans grew leading up to election night. He pointed to the nearly 6-percentage point shift to the right between Donald Trump, who netted 17% of Arlingtonians’ votes, to Youngkin, who received 22.8% of votes.

An Arlington GOP meeting in May had 80 people — the highest attendance in decades, we’re told — and the record was soon broken by an event two weeks ago that netted 200 people and the Tuesday night watch party that attracted 300.

And one new issue drove that support, Hurtt says: education.

“I think the frustration there among parents was palpable,” he said.

That frustration came from a number of new schools issues taken on by Republicans, who’ve traditionally rallied around school choice and homeschooling.

Among them: how systemic racism is taught in schools; policy decisions to eliminate or lower admissions standards for advanced programs in the name of education equity; and in places such as Arlington and Fairfax counties, frustrations over school closures and masking.

“Unequivocally, [Critical Race Theory] 101 is not being taught in Virginia schools. That said, the lens through which every subject is taught… has the lens of critical theory, a philosophy of questioning the institutions,” Hurtt said. “To say to a child that everything around them is stacked against them or stacked in their favor [based on their race] is a destructive way to teach someone who’s forming their belief system.”

On education equity issues, he pointed to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County changing its admissions standards.

At the state level, the Virginia Department of Education also cited equity in its decision to eliminate accelerated math courses prior to 11th grade.

On these issues, Hurtt said, McAuliffe wasn’t strong.

“It was clear in the last 96 hours of the campaign that Terry had lost his footing,” Hurtt said. “He gave us the greatest gift by saying, ‘Parents shouldn’t have a say in kids’ education.’ Whether he meant to say it that way or not, that’s what parents went into the polls considering.”

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BREAKING: Arlington stays deep blue as statewide offices switch to red

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 1 a.m.) The eyes of the nation are on the statewide races in Virginia tonight — and, at least occasionally, on Arlington, which is remaining deep blue.

Another Election Day has resulted in another decisive sweep for Arlington Democrats in the local races.

The narrowest win, relatively speaking, belongs to County Board member Takis Karantonis, who currently has just over 60% of the vote with all but two of Arlington’s 57 precincts reporting. His three independent challengers — Mike Cantwell, Audrey Clement and Adam Theo — have about 14%, 18% and 6% of the vote, respectively.

Democratic-endorsed School Board candidate Mary Kadera is cruising to victory and will replace fellow Democrat Monique O’Grady, who did not seek another term. In the House of Delegates races for districts that include Arlington, Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Parker-Bennett will be headed to Richmond in January, while Dels. Patrick Hope, Alfonso Lopez and Rip Sullivan were all reelected.

All four of the county’s 2021 bond referenda will pass, with the $17 million “community infrastructure” bond receiving 71% yes votes, the lowest of the four.

More than half of Arlington registered voters cast ballots — 26.5% did so through early voting — though whether the turnout exceeds the 59% seen in the 2017 gubernatorial race will not be official until all of the votes are counted. The Arlington elections office said that it would not be able to complete the count until later this week due to outstanding ballots.

As for the statewide races, 76.5% of Arlington voters voted for Democrat Terry McAuliffe to return for a non-consecutive term in the governor’s mansion, as of 11 p.m. That’s down from the 80% that Gov. Ralph Northam received in 2017, and it will likely not be enough. Republican Glenn Youngkin currently has about 51% of the vote across the Commonwealth, to 49% for McAuliffe.

CNN briefly highlighted the vote in Arlington as its national prime time coverage focuses on the closely-watched race in Virginia, a state that had been trending bluer during the Trump era.

Major national outlets called the race for Youngkin around 12:30 a.m., later also calling it for GOP colleagues, Lieutenant Governor candidate Winsome Sears and Attorney General candidate Jason Miyares.

Prominent national election-watcher Dave Wasserman and Virginia Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett both called the race earlier in the night, after early returns favored Youngkin.

Parent Group Calls On Arlington Dems To End School Board Caucus

By Jo DeVoe

A parent group that got its start advocating for a full return to school during the pandemic is calling on the Arlington County Democratic Committee to end its School Board caucus.

Arlington Parents for Education (APE), which has been vocal recently in its criticism of School Board leadership and Arlington Public Schools’ American Rescue Plan spending amid the coronavirus, says the caucus — most recently held in May, to determine who local Democrats endorse in the general election — discourages broad election participation and makes officials beholden to the political party.

“This ‘endorsement’ effectively decides the outcome of the general election during a little-known caucus in May, because the ACDC places the endorsee’s name on its coveted November sample ballot. To wit: every School Board member since 2003 has been endorsed by the ACDC,” APE said in a statement.

The group added that until this process ends, “the Arlington School Board will continue to put students’ needs last, move in lock-step, and avoid even voting on issues that may be unpalatable to the caucus-voting-minority within the party.”

In Virginia, all School Board races are nonpartisan, meaning parties like Arlington Dems can only endorse candidates, not nominate them as in a primary. But as part of the endorsement caucus, candidates agree not to run in the general election, making the end result similar to a primary.

In a statement, ACDC Chair Jill Caiazzo said the group has the same right as any private organization to support candidates for elected office.

“Arlington Democrats fights every year to elect candidates who will advance Democratic policy priorities at all levels of government, including local races,” she said. “Voters need look no further than the recent alt-right fracas at a Loudoun School Board meeting to understand the importance of Democratic leadership in our schools at this time. Arlington Democrats choose our endorsed candidates for this critical leadership position using the most robust endorsement process of any organization in Arlington, with record-breaking participation in each of the past two years.”

This year, the caucus was held to decide who Democrats will endorse during the Nov. 2 general election to fill a seat held by School Board member Monique O’Grady, who’s not seeking a new term. The 2021 caucus, in which ACDC endorsed former educator Mary Kadera, had in-person and online voting options due to the pandemic, and brought in 6,207 ballots, setting a local record. The lockdown-era mail-in caucus in 2020 brought in 5,700 votes.

For the parent group, that turnout is low, even if record-breaking.

“This means that a School Board seat for a 25,000+ student school system in a county of 233,000 is decided by just 2.5% of the population, and in most years it is even lower,” APE said. “We believe broad participation and civic engagement are cornerstones of democracy.”

The group pointed to a list of self-identified Democrats who also want to see the caucus abandoned, including Parent-Teacher Association members, local NAACP members and former School Board candidates Symone Walker and Miranda Turner.

This spring, Kadera and Turner also critiqued the caucus during a candidate dialogue hosted by the Arlington NAACP.

“With all due respect to Arlington Dems, I’d like them to see them be able to endorse a candidate in the normal way other community organizations do, without running a caucus that can artificially constrain the participation of some people,” Kadera said.

Turner agreed, saying the process — which happens in the spring — confuses people and generates low turnout.

“I think it does tend to discourage folks from voting who would otherwise be very interested in voting for a school board candidate,” she said. “It is in fact a nonpartisan race, and I do think it might be better for the school system as a whole to treat it as such.”

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Local Democrat Challenges Rep. Don Beyer in 8th District Primary

By Vernon Miles
Victoria Virasingh (via Victoria Virasingh/Facebook)

Arlingtonian Victoria Virasingh has thrown her hat into the ring to challenge Rep. Don Beyer for the 8th District Democratic primary next year.

Beyer has held onto the 8th District, which includes parts of Arlington and Alexandria, since he won a crowded primary for former Congressman Jim Moran’s seat in 2014 and the general election later that year.

Virasingh was born and raised in Arlington and is the Vice-Chair of Outreach for the Arlington Democrats. She was previously been part of Communities in Schools at Barcroft Elementary School. Her professional resume includes work for Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit, and controversial tech company Palantir.

“I was born in Arlington to immigrant parents,” Virasingh said. “My mom is from Ecuador. My dad was born to Punjabi Sikh refugees in Thailand. They are immigrants who worked minimum wage jobs here in Virginia’s 8th. I became the first in my family to go to college by getting a full scholarship to Stanford University. My story represents the American Dream, the belief that no matter where you come from, if you work hard you can achieve your own success.”

Virasingh said her return to Arlington for work highlighted that some of those support systems have gone.

“When I came back to work in Arlington it became clear to me that the structures — living wage, affordable housing — that helped my family succeed are gone,” Virasingh said. “We need to create opportunities for people to have healthcare and to live and work here. We need a $18/hour minimum wage, housing for all, equity in education and Medicare for All.

Virasingh said her life experience has shown her the need for “true progressive policies to level the playing field and provide opportunity for all.”

According to Virasingh’s website, some campaign priorities include:

  • Housing for all
  • Equity in education
  • Securing a living wage
  • Medicare for all

On Twitter, Virasingh noted that is she wins, she will be the first woman to hold the 8th District seat.

Virasingh listed the following as some examples of involvement in the 8th District.

I am the Vice-Chair Outreach for Arlington Democrats which means I work closely with our 9 caucuses.

I believe voter registration and education is an essential pillar of our democracy and as a precinct captain, I work to increase voter participation.

I was deployed to Barcroft Elementary School through Communities and Schools and worked side by side with the Site Coordinator there on family engagement, distribution of resource vouchers, and lead student programming.

During the pandemic, I lead Hispanic outreach for Rides to the Vaccines.

I strongly align myself with the mission and vision of Bridges to Independence, and they have called on me to  jump in on projects and meetings.

I am a member of the Arlington County Economic Development Commission.

Additionally, I attend meetings and events with LULAC, Latino Caucus, ASHPA, community events put on by interfaith communities in Arlington.

I am also part of Arlington Young Dems and the NAACP-Arlington Branch.

I built private-public partnerships at Palantir Technologies which led to the founding of the Future of Work Team. Leading the team took me to working in Europe while being based out of Germany.

While in California, I sat on the Youth Board of City Youth Now, a non profit organization that provides support to youth in the Juvenile system transitioning into independent living.

I have been an advisor for the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority which I was a part of in college.

“I think that our district deserves to have a representative that takes leadership on progressive issues and drives the conversation on issues affecting our constituents everyday,” said Virasingh. “I thank Representative Beyer for his service. I think it’s time for new leadership that matches the composition of our district. I think it’s time for new leadership that is not reactive to adopting progressive policies, but is proactive in leading the charge for progressive policies that lift our communities up.”

Beyer told ARLnow that he has also supported Medicare for all for years, and his plan for now is to focus on doing his job as best he can.

“The seat belongs to the people of Virginia’s 8th District,” Beyer said. “[Competitive elections] make our community stronger, our democracy stronger, and makes me a more effective candidate and leader. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. God bless her and I never want to discourage anyone from being involved.”

The 8th district seat is up in the 2022 election, and the Democratic primary is currently scheduled for June 21.

Photo via Victoria Virasingh/Facebook

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Metro Resuming Midnight Service — “Metro will expand train service to midnight, seven days a week starting Sunday, July 18. The extended operating hours are the first in a package of service improvements passed by Metro’s Board of Directors in June that will add more all-day rail service, create high-frequency bus routes and improve service across the region.” [WMATA]

New Leader for Signature Theatre — “Signaling the rise of a younger generation of leadership for the American musical stage, Signature Theatre announced Tuesday that it has chosen Matthew Gardiner, the company’s second-in-command, as its new artistic director after a year-long, nationwide search. At 37, Gardiner — who has directed or choreographed more than 30 productions for the company — becomes the youngest head of a front-line Washington-area theater.” [Washington Post]

Dems to Hand-Deliver Annual Newsletter — “Party leaders are gearing up to hand-deliver 50,000 to 60,000 copies of the ‘Democratic Messenger,’ the party’s annual get-out-the-vote newsletter, to homes across Arlington in mid-September. It’s done the old-fashioned way – hand-delivery – and ‘we’re going to need roughly 600 volunteers,’ said Carol Fontein, who heads precinct operations.” [Sun Gazette]

Arlington Voters Favor Establishment Democrats in Primary

By ARLnow.com
County Board members Takis Karantonis (left) and Matt de Ferranti (right) at the Madison Community Center polling place on June 8, 2021 (photo via Takis Karantonis/Twitter)

Primary day was a good day to be an establishment Democrat in Arlington, though not necessarily so for every incumbent.

A primary challenge to incumbent County Board member Takis Karantonis was soundly rejected by voters, who gave Karantonis just over two-thirds of the vote. He defeats Chanda Choun, who ran on a platform of responsive government, technological advancement, and lower taxes, among other things.

Karantonis, who was first elected in a special election and is running for his first full term, will now face a trio of independent candidates in the fall: Audrey Clement, Mike Cantwell and Adam Theo. He thanked his volunteers and Choun for “a positive, well-fought campaign.”

In the 49th House of Delegates district, which runs along Columbia Pike, voters said yes to one of the most liberal state lawmakers in the Commonwealth and said no to a candidate running to his left. Del. Alfonso Lopez, who was first elected in 2012, cruised to another Democratic nomination over Karishma Mehta, by a vote of around 70% to 30%.

Mehta, a Pentagon City resident, was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Sunrise Movement and local activist group Our Revolution Arlington. She was openly critical of her new corporate neighbor, Amazon, which is building its HQ2 within the district and will eventually be Arlington’s second largest employer — second only to the Department of Defense.

Lopez thanked voters tonight for their “resounding support.”

The other contested local primary was in the 45th House of Delegates district, which includes portions of South Arlington, Alexandria and southern Fairfax County. In it, incumbent Del. Mark Levine simultaneously lost his reelection bid in the 45th district while also falling short in his run for lieutenant governor.

Emerging victorious is Alexandria Vice-Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, who is garnering nearly 60% of the vote district-wide to 40% for Levine. The margin in Arlington was closer — 53% to 47% — but nonetheless a defeat for Levine, who loaned his campaign nearly $1 million in his unsuccessful statewide run.

Bennett-Parker was endorsed by state Sen. Adam Ebbin, Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti, and County Board Vice-Chair Katie Cristol, among others. In declaring victory via social media, she also thanked her campaign volunteers.

In statewide races, Arlington voted the same way as Virginia as a whole.

Former Governor Terry McAuliffe is again the Democratic nominee for governor, with 60% of the vote in Arlington and 62% statewide.

Hala Ayala is the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee, despite a last-minute controversy over a political donation from Dominion, with 35% of the vote in Arlington and 36% statewide.

Incumbent Attorney General Mark Herring, meanwhile, is also advancing to the November general election after garnering 68.5% of the vote in Arlington and 56% statewide in his race against Jay Jones, who was endorsed by Gov. Ralph Northam.

Low Turnout So Far in Democratic Primary

By ARLnow.com
1/7

(Updated at noon) After relatively robust early voting, day-of voting in today’s Democratic primary in Arlington is off to a very slow start.

As of 9 a.m., only about 0.5% of active local voters cast ballots during the first three hours of voting this morning, according to the county elections office.

“It’s a slow one,” the office said via Twitter.

The highest turnout — 1% — was seen in the 45th House of Delegates district, which features a competitive race between Alexandria City Vice-Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and incumbent Mark Levine, who is also running for Lieutenant Governor.

Arlington is not alone in seeing low turnout. The neighboring City of Falls Church had only recorded 132 voters as of 9 a.m. Across the state, in fact, low turnout is being reported and is causing some concern among Democrats about a potential lack of voter enthusiasm.

One exception to the low turnout trend today: Alexandria, where competitive citywide races have drawn more a turnout of more than 10% as of 10 a.m.

Polls in Virginia are open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m.

The contested races on the ballot in Arlington — all Democratic primaries — are below.

A number of non-Democrats will be on the ballot this fall, facing off against the primary winners in the November general election.

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