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UPDATED: Rep. Moran Announces His Retirement

Published January 15, 2014 at 9:05AM | Updated January 15, 2014 at 2:11PM

(Updated at 2:15 p.m.) Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) announced this morning that he will not seek reelection.

In a statement (after the jump), Moran lamented the sorry state of the budget process in Washington, but said he was hopeful that with the recent bipartisan budget deal, things are getting back on track.

“I prepare to leave Congress feeling very fortunate, grateful for what we’ve accomplished, and optimistic for the future of Northern Virginia, the Washington Metropolitan Region, and our nation,” he said.

The announcement puts Moran’s long-held Congressional seat — representing Arlington, Alexandria and parts of Fairfax County — up for grabs. Already, electoral prognosticators are weighing in on what will likely be a political free-for-all among local Democrats.

Ben Tribbett, of the Not Larry Sabato blog, opined that the theoretical front runners in this year’s race to replace Moran include Del. Patrick Hope, state Sen. Adam Ebbin, Arlington County Board member Jay Fisette, former Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley, Del. Charniele Herring, Del. Mark Sickles and Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay. Other names circulating around Twitter include Alexandria mayor Bill Euille, Del. Rob Krupicka and former Lieutenant Governor candidate Aneesh Chopra.

Moran, now in his 12th term in the House of Representatives, has been an outspoken advocate and an effective budget appropriator for his constituents and the causes he supported, including federal employees, transportation infrastructure, immigration reform, gay marriage, gun control, and animal rights. Moran’s Congressional tenure has also been marred by occasional controversies.

In 1995 he engaged in a “physical confrontation” with Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.). In 2000 he was accused of attacking an 8-year-old boy in an Alexandria parking lot. In 2006 he said he would “earmark the shit out of” his House appropriations subcommittee post to steer federal money to Virginia’s 8th Congressional District. In 2010 he said his Republican challenger, a retired Army officer, hadn’t “served or performed in any kind of public service.” In 2011 he was accused in a book of “insider trading” (but never prosecuted). In 2012 his son, Patrick, resigned from Moran’s campaign after being caught on hidden camera seemingly going along with a scheme to commit voter fraud.

Despite the controversies, Moran’s Capitol Hill staffers say he is a man truly dedicated to public service, who speaks his mind and does what he thinks is right.

“He is exactly what you want in your local representative — he loves the people of the 8th District and is in politics for the right reasons,” said Anne Hughes, a former press secretary. “Moran is a fierce advocate for Northern Virginia and I know will be remembered not only for his contributions to the region, but also for being on the right side of history — from Iraq War to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell — and speaking out loudly for those who can’t speak for themselves.”

“I have enormous respect for Moran, he leaves giant shoes to fill,” Hughes added. “And I will especially miss watching his raucous floor speeches.”

State Sen. Ebbin said in a statement that Moran “has represented the progressive values of the people of Northern Virginia.”

“He has been an advocate for our environment, a fighter for equality, and a strong champion of universal health care and the Affordable Care Act,” Ebbin said. “Northern Virginia is a better place to live and work because of Jim Moran’s leadership. I am proud to have been represented by him in Congress, and to have represented him in Richmond. After his decades of service to our community, I wish him a long and happy retirement.”

The full statement from Moran’s office about the Congressman’s retirement, and a statement from President Obama, after the jump.

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Greeley Would Be First Openly Gay Man on Arlington School Board

By Ethan Rothstein

Published January 7, 2014 at 4:05PM | Updated January 7, 2014 at 10:30PM

Greg Greeley is not your typical suburban School Board candidate. A single gay man, a father of two adopted boys, and an Air Force veteran, Greeley breaks the mold in more ways than one.

This might be big news elsewhere in the country. In Arlington, however, Greeley is just running to succeed another mold-breaker.

Greeley, a Douglas Park resident, filed to run to replace Sally Baird on the School Board earlier this month. If elected, Greeley would be Arlington’s first openly gay male School Board member, replacing Baird, Virginia’s first openly lesbian elected official. (Like Greeley, Baird also has two sons.)

Greeley has served as chair of the “Planning and Capacity Subcommittee of the Advisory Council on School Facilities and Capital Programs” and as treasurer of the Randolph Elementary School PTA, among other volunteer positions with school organizations.

The 49-year-old Democrat has already received endorsements from state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) and Del. Patrick Hope (D-47) and is prepping for a door-knocking campaign before the Democratic caucus in May. Greeley, a federal government contractor and project manager, is primarily focused on capacity and facility issues — building and renovating schools to keep up with Arlington’s burgeoning student population — since it’s where he thinks the School Board needs the most improvement.

“I want us to make better decisions about how to deal with the capacity crunch,” he told ARLnow.com this morning. “The tipping point [in my decision to run] was last summer when the North Arlington elementary schools were dealing with boundary changes. It was really a painful public process.”

As a member of the capacity subcommittee, and the boundary liaison to Nottingham Elementary School during the process, he said he kept seeing reasons to run for the Board.

“As I got more involved in the facilities,” he said, “I saw more things I wanted to change.”

Greeley has never run for office before, but he has experience in helping change happen. He served four years in the Air Force — which he called “a great experience” — before applying for discharge because, as he put it, “I was too out to stay in.”

“I’ve always wanted to lead the life I wanted to live,” he said. He explained that that’s why, in 2002, he adopted his first son, Kolya, from the Ukraine as an 18 month old. “I hit my mid-30s and decided I wanted to have a family.”

Greeley doesn’t worry about convincing voters that he’s a capable, qualified School Board candidate despite his status as a gay single parent.

“That’s why I like living here,” he said. “People here are open and accepting. It wasn’t always this way. There was lots of pushback in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and we weren’t welcome in the political scene. Now we’re just part of the community.”

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Kanninen, Van Doren Announce School Board Candidacy

By ARLnow.com

Published January 6, 2014 at 5:45PM

Two Arlington School Board hopefuls have formally announced their candidacy.

Barbara Kanninen, Nancy Van Doren and Greg Greeley are running for the Democratic endorsement for school board, hoping to replace the retiring Sally Baird. The endorsement caucus will be held on May 15 and 17. Kanninen and Van Doren announced their candidacies over the weekend.

Van Doren, a mother of four and an Arlington Public Schools volunteer, says her experience “is deep and broad and it is exactly what the school board needs at this time.”

From a campaign mailer:

For ten years, Nancy has volunteered extensively in Arlington Public Schools to ensure the educational success of all children from all backgrounds.

Nancy focuses on the student. She always asks: What does the student need to succeed? What can I do to ensure each and every child is successful? She maintains this focus and works for demonstrable improvement at the student, school, and county level.

Nancy follows through and gets the job done. When it comes to educating students, collaboration, good communication, and community engagement are keys to success. Nancy has a very collaborative style, which she uses effectively to build coalitions to get projects done.

Van Doren, whose children attend Jefferson Middle School and Washington-Lee High School, is holding a campaign kick-off event from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, at the Lyon Park Community House (414 N. Fillmore Street).

Kanninen, an economist and author who unsuccessfully ran for school board last year, says the school system should improve its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs while also investing in the arts.

The press release from Kanninen’s campaign, after the jump.

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Baird to Retire from School Board

By ARLnow.com

Published January 3, 2014 at 10:45AM | Updated January 3, 2014 at 2:45PM

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Arlington School Board member Sally Baird will not seek a third term in office this year.

Baird tells the Sun Gazette that she’s stepping down because she wants to spend more time with her family. Three candidates — Barbara Kanninen, Nancy Van Doren and Greg Greeley — have already filed paperwork to run for Baird’s seat, the paper also reported.

Kanninen last year challenged incumbent James Lander in the Democratic School Board endorsement caucus. She was narrowly defeated.

Greeley, 49, announced his candidacy today and said he will focus on the school system’s capacity challenges.

“Our growing school system is at a critical juncture,” Greeley said. “Our School Board needs a leader with the community, professional, and schools experience to meet these challenges head-on. I am prepared to lead the important school and community dialogue that will shape Arlington schools’ growth and will ensure that our decisions are driven by what is best for students.”

Greeley, a single father of two adopted boys who lives in the Douglas Park neighborhood, previously served as chair of the Planning and Capacity Subcommittee of the Advisory Council on School Facilities and Capital Programs.

Libertarian Announces for County Board

By ARLnow.com

Published January 2, 2014 at 10:05AM

Libertarian Evan Bernick has announced his intention to run for the Arlington County Board seat being vacated by Chris Zimmerman.

Bernick, a legal fellow for the conservative Heritage Foundation, says he wants to reduce spending, cut taxes and require that County Board members be elected by district, rather than at-large.

The date of the special election will be set after Zimmerman formally resigns — which is expected by the end of the month.

In a statement, Bernick said he opposes the Columbia Pike streetcar and the Long Bridge Park aquatics center, and wants to “restore accountability and transparency to our political process and release Arlington’s private sector from the burden of wasteful spending.” The full statement follows.

Arlington is a wealthy, beautiful, inclusive, and diverse community. It’s a great place to live and work, and it has a bright future ahead of it.

The only thing that can hold us back is the poor governance we have seen recently. I’m running for Arlington County Board as a Libertarian Party candidate in order to restore accountability and transparency to our political process and release Arlington’s private sector from the burden of wasteful spending.

I moved to Arlington in 2011 after graduating from the University of Chicago Law School. I’ve spent the last three years at non-profits, researching, writing about, and supporting litigation efforts in defense of, individuals who have been victimized by government overreach. In that short time, I’ve grown to love it here— this is my home.

Like many Arlingtonians, I’m concerned about our government. Over the past year, the Arlington County Board has engaged in jaw-droppingly reckless expenditures, like a million-dollar bus stop, that have been mocked in the national press. To add insult to injury, it has arrogantly brushed aside any and all criticism.

Upon taking office, I will focus spending on core government functions that Arlingtonians depend upon. I will not support any more million-dollar bus stops. I will not support the construction of a $72 million Long Bridge Park aquatic and fitness center. And I will not support a $300 million streetcar in Columbia Pike. The novelty of a streetcar will wear off quickly and its costs will burden private enterprise and divert resources from more pressing governmental priorities for years to come.

But voting against a couple of disasters waiting to happen won’t solve Arlington’s problems. I have three proposals for making our Board more transparent, more accountable, and less burdensome to taxpayers:

1.) Ensure that big-ticket spending items, like the Long Bridge Park facilities, are no longer hidden in generally worded bond referendums.

2.) Require Board members to be directly elected by districts, to ensure that the Board is more responsive to localized concerns.

3.) Scale back property taxes, putting thousands of dollars back in homeowner’s pockets.

If elected, I will bring moderation and fiscal responsibility to a Board that’s in desperate need of both and I will protect each individual’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Photo via LinkedIn

The Right Note: Recount

By Mark Kelly

Published December 19, 2013 at 1:30PM

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

This week I had the opportunity to act as an observer for state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-26) in the Virginia Attorney General recount. While the Virginia-wide recount did not produce the result Republicans hoped for, Arlingtonians can be proud of the way in which the recount proceeded at the courthouse on Tuesday.

With security provided by Arlington County Sheriff’s Deputies, Clerk of the Court Paul Ferguson oversaw the recount. Ferguson swore in two of the Electoral Board members as Recount Coordinators and ten Officers of Election at 7:00 a.m. to conduct it. Registrar Linda Lindberg and her staff provided guidance to all of the officials as they opened the sealed envelopes containing Nov. 5’s results.

Each campaign named five observers to watch the counting process. All in all, 22 people — 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans — officially conducted and observed the ballot counting. The process was orderly, collegial, and most importantly, accurate.

At the end of the day, there were just two additional votes counted, with one challenged vote produced for review. The additional votes were a result of paper absentee ballots where votes for Attorney General were not read by the optical scan machine during the original counting process. That’s three votes in a race where 66,805 had initially been certified in Arlington.

The Electoral Board and Registrar’s office deserve credit for their commitment to getting it right the first time. And, they deserve credit for the organization and professionalism in conducting the recount.

One of the Democrats observing the process on Tuesday noted that Mark Obenshain was a well-respected member of the Virginia Senate. I could not agree more. Sen. Obenshain’s record in the Senate and his professional experience made him well-qualified to serve as Attorney General. Also, after getting to know him and his family, I came to trust his character as well.

Sen. Obenshain’s character was evident again yesterday. When it became increasingly clear the recount would not change the result in his favor, Obenshain called his fellow Senate colleague, and now Attorney General-elect, Mark Herring to concede. Obenshain ended the process despite having the right to let it play out.

Running for office is no walk in the park. When you decide to run, you know you are making real sacrifices for yourself and your family — and those sacrifices ratchet up substantially when you are running for statewide office. Even with this in mind, I hope Sen. Obenshain continues to serve Virginians in the Senate, and that he will run for higher office again in the future.

Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 5, 2013 at 8:35AM | Updated December 5, 2013 at 10:25AM

Three Vying for County Board Nod — Three candidates for the upcoming Arlington County Board special election kicked off their campaigns at last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting. Among them are Alan Howze, president of the Highland Park-Overlee Knolls Civic Association; Peter Fallon, former Planning Commission member; and Cord Thomas, who helped found Envirocab and Elevation Burger. All three will compete in a two-day Democratic caucus, to be held Jan. 30 and Feb. 1. [Sun Gazette, Washington Post]

Remembering the Ballston Skulls — Up until the 1940s, the Ballston Skulls, a semi-pro football team, played at Ballston Stadium, on the site of what’s now Ballston Common Mall. The Washington Redskins also conducted work outs from the facility. [Ghosts of DC]

Attorney General Recount to Start Dec. 16 — The recount process in the election of the Virginia Attorney General will take place from Dec. 16-19. Currently, Democrat Mark Herring has a 165 vote lead over Republican Mark Obenshain. [WJLA]

Flickr pool photo by @ddimick

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 18, 2013 at 8:45AM

Board Adopts Pike Affordable Housing Tools — The Arlington County Board on Saturday formally adopted a number of county code changes needed to implement the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan. The plan includes the implementation of Form Based Code for the residential areas around the Pike. Form Based Code allows developers to build larger projects than otherwise permitted through zoning, provided a number of conditions are met. On the Pike, those conditions include setting aside 20-35 percent of new units for affordable housing and meeting green building standards. [Arlington County]

Board Proposes TIF for Affordable Housing — Also on Saturday, the County Board voted to advertise a plan to implement a Tax Increment Financing district along Columbia Pike. The TIF would take some of the additional tax revenue provided by new development and set it aside for affordable housing. [Washington Post]

Special Election May Be Held in March — Assuming retiring County Board member Chris Zimmerman vacates his seat by the end of January, the special election to replace him on the Board could be held in mid- to late March. [Sun Gazette]

Howze Announces for County Board — Democrat Alan Howze announced his candidacy for Arlington County Board over the weekend. Howze, who has served as president of the Highland Park-Overlee Knolls Civic Association, says he shares outgoing Board member Chris Zimmerman’s “vision for a transit-oriented, smart-growth community that is welcoming to all.” [Facebook]

Arlington Adds to Herring’s Slim Lead in AG Race

By ARLnow.com

Published November 13, 2013 at 3:00PM

A count of provisional ballots in Arlington is contributing to Democratic state Sen. Mark Herring’s razor-thin lead in the race for Virginia Attorney General.

On Friday evening, Arlington election officials finished sorting through the 161 provisional ballots cast on Election Day, according to Arlington County Registrar Linda Lindberg. Of those, 80 were accepted — 59 for Herring and 21 for Republican state Sen. Mark Obenshain.

(Provisional ballots are cast when a voter cannot produce proper identification or when records indicate that they’ve already voted. The local electoral board then must approve or reject each vote, after further research and after giving those without ID a chance to present it in person by the Friday after election day.)

The 38 vote differential might not seem like much, but it helped to contribute to Herring’s lead, which stood at 163 votes as of last night. The total Attorney General vote tally in Arlington stands at 49,919 for Herring and 16,694 for Obenshain, according to Lindberg.

The Virginia State Board of Elections is expected to certify the election results on Nov. 25. At that time, the losing candidate will be able to petition the courts for a recount — a near certainty. A similar process played out during the 2005 Attorney General race between now-Governor Bob McDonnell (R) and state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D).

Lindberg said she expects a recount to only take a day in Arlington, since the county uses electronic voting machines, as opposed to optical ballots which would each need to be re-run through scanners.

#election

Gov’t Shutdown Helped Arlington Dems ‘Export Votes’

By ARLnow.com

Published November 7, 2013 at 2:15PM

In the Virginia gubernatorial race, Democrat Terry McAuliffe defeated Republican Ken Cuccinelli by a margin of about 56,000 votes. Arlington, meanwhile, contributed about 33,000 surplus Democratic votes to that total.

Arlington’s importance to securing Democratic victories in statewide races cannot be underestimated, county Treasurer Frank O’Leary told the party faithful at last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.

“We are exporting votes that are desperately needed… throughout Virginia,” he said, lauding the party’s get-out-the-vote efforts, which helped lead to McAuliffe’s 72 percent to 22 percent shellacking over Cuccinelli in Arlington.

O’Leary said the nearly 67,000 votes cast in the governor’s race in Arlington were a record, smashing the previous record of about 57,000 and pointing to an overall upward trend in overall turnout for statewide, congressional and presidential races in Arlington. (Turnout in purely local elections — County Board, etc. — remains flat.)

Especially important to the get-out-the-vote efforts of Arlington Democrats, O’Leary said, was absentee voting.

Arlingtonians cast about 7,250 absentee ballots this year, a record for a non-presidential year. The previous record was 7,077, set in 2006. While some of the increase can be attributed to a broader upward trend in absentee voting, O’Leary said the federal government shutdown also played a significant role.

“An interesting thing happened in early October,” O’Leary said. “A whole lot of people were furloughed… and they were mad as hell and weren’t going to talk it any more.”

“My theory that the absentee vote was swollen by angry federal workers, using their unappreciated furlough to come in and vote, may be sustained by the fact that McAuliffe received 79.5% of their vote versus 70.6% in the 52 precincts,” O’Leary said in a subsequent email. “Thus, McAuliffe garnered 650 more votes at the absentee level than might have been expected based on his performance in the precincts.”

The Libertarian candidate running for governor in Virginia, Robert Sarvis, captured about 6.5 percent of the vote statewide, and about 5.8 percent in Arlington. Contrary to the conventional wisdom of some Virginia political watchers, who argued that Sarvis largely siphoned off votes that would have otherwise gone to Cuccinelli, O’Leary said he has reason to believe Sarvis actually hurt McAuliffe in Arlington.

“In my opinion, Mr. Sarvis actually cost our gubernatorial candidates some votes,” he said.

Republicans to Run Local Candidates in 2014

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 6, 2013 at 5:00PM

Arlington Republicans are planning to run candidates in local elections next November.

After a year where seats on the County Board and School Board and four House of Delegates districts were up for election and no Republicans ran, 2014 will not be a repeat, pledged Arlington County Republican Committee Chairman Charles Hokanson.

“We fully expect to be running local candidates in 2014 and beyond,” Hokanson told ARLnow.com. “This year, we prioritized our work on supporting the statewide Republican ticket in what correctly proved to be very tight elections, in the process building up our strongest voter identification and get-out-the-vote efforts in many years.”

Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli received 22 percent of the votes for governor in Arlington, but Hokanson said the Arlington GOP “built up our largest active party membership in over a decade in 2013.”

“Arlington Republican voters know that we are a political minority in this County and understand that, to win races, our local party seeks to put forth credible, experienced candidates who will run strong campaigns, prove successful fundraisers, build issue-based coalitions that resonate with voters, and have the time to give it their all,” Hokanson said.

Hokanson said no one has yet declared for the 2014 races, which will include County Board, the School Board and Rep. Jim Moran’s House of Representatives seat, among others, but he said the GOP will put out a call for candidates this winter.

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