election

Primary Mud-Slinging Not Repeated in Debate Between Favola, Merrick

By ARLnow.com

If you were hoping for fireworks in the closely-watched state Senate race between Arlington County Board member Barbara Favola (D) and McLean businesswoman Caren Merrick (R), you would have been sorely disappointed by last night’s Arlington County Civic Federation debate.

The unofficial kickoff to the general election campaign season lacked the audacious, back-and-forth recriminations of the 31st District Democratic primary. It did, however, set the stage for a clear battle of ideas in a race that could have significant repercussions in Richmond.

Smiling and effervescent, Merrick’s big debut to Arlington voters started out with her politely applauding Favola’s opening statement, then taking the podium, acknowledging her husband and sons, and describing herself as “the daughter of a Marine.” She recounted how she and her husband “started a software company in our basement” (it was sold to a German company in 2007 for $546 million) and touted her non-profit work with low-income families and “urban youth.”

Repeatedly, Merrick cited her business experience and argued that she was the stronger candidate on jobs and the economy.

“I believe that I have the experience that these challenging times call for,” Merrick said, adding that she would also focus on education and “bipartisan solutions for transportation.”

“I will not be part of the partisan gridlock,” said Merrick. “Above all, I promise that I will listen to you.”

Merrick stayed clear of hot-button topics like abortion and gay marriage in her opening and closing statements, but Civic Federation questioners pressed the issue.

“There are millions of good people on both sides of this issue,” she said when asked about abortion. “I’m pro-life. But I have a record of helping women who are homeless, who have been abused, who have had to rebuild their lives. The company that my husband and I co-founded… over half of the management team were women. So I’m pro-women.”

“In terms of discrimination, I believe discrimination is wrong,” she said, referring to a question about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. “I’ve hired people from all walks of life.”

Favola, meanwhile, was unequivocal.

“I’m a strong supporter of pro-equality,” she said. “I’m 100% pro-choice as well.”

Favola and Merrick both said they supported increasing transportation funding, but differed in terms of how to pay for it.

“You have to remember that Virginia has one of the lowest gas taxes in the entire country,” Favola said in support of raising the state’s gasoline tax. “The bottom line here is: We have a problem, we have to fix it.”

“I don’t believe a gas tax is sustainable,” Merrick argued. “I agree with our Democratic Senators Warner and Webb, who are proposing that we sell off-shore [oil drilling] leases. I also support a myriad of other forms of revenue for transportation. I do not support the gas tax.”

(more…)

Morning Poll: Post-Labor Day Events

By ARLnow.com

Now that the first day of September has arrived, it’s time to start looking forward to some of the later summer and fall events that Arlington has to offer.

The first major event after Labor Day is the Rosslyn Jazz Festival on Saturday, Sept. 10. Jazz luminaries Dee Dee Bridgewater, Henry Butler and Grace Kelly will perform at the annual event, which is held in Rossslyn’s Gateway Park.

The annual Vintage Crystal wine and jazz festival is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 18. The event, held in a Crystal City parking lot, features wine tastings and food samples, as well as jazz and dance performances, all with a “Latin twist.”

Clarendon Day, another local favorite, will happen on Saturday, Sept. 24 this year. Food vendors, live music, a 10K/5K race and family activities round out the day’s excitement.

The Capital City Brewing Shirlington Oktoberfest is back this year for more Teutonic debauchery in Shirlington Village. Sample enough Märzen-style beers and you’ll forget all about the boisterous crowds and long lines. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 8.

Finally, for the political wonks, Election Day will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8 this year. Will Barbara Favola successfully fend off a challenge from Republican Caren Merrick? Will Democrats hang on to the Virginia state Senate? Local political types will be watching closely.

Which event are you most looking forward to?


 

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Car on Fire on I-395 — A car caught fire on southbound I-395 near Boundary Channel around 9:30 last night. The car was fully-engulfed by the time firefighters arrived on scene. No injuries were reported

Sun Gazette: Thumbs Down to Board’s ‘Walmart’ Action — The County Board’s last-minute, unannounced vote at the end of its final meeting before the summer recess is getting a “thumbs down” in the opinion pages of the Sun Gazette. The Board voted to advertise hearings on a zoning ordinance amendment that would prevent large-format retailers like Walmart from building a store without prior Board approval. “County staff so far have been unable to explain what the rush is – they want to get this approved by the County Board later in the month – and exactly what problem they are trying to solve,” the paper opined. [Sun Gazette]

School Board Challenger Drops Out — Independent Green candidate for school board Andrea Ochoa has withdrawn from the race, according to Arlington elections officials. Incumbent Democrat Abby Raphael will now run unopposed.

Street Sign Mistakes — Typos happen, including on street signs in Arlington. Among the examples: “22rd Road,” “Chian Br. Road” and an unspecified misspelling of “school” on a parking sign. [Falls Church News-Press]

Photo courtesy of @cmags44

Civic Federation’s Candidate Night Approaches

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Civic Federation’s Candidate Night is one week away.

General election candidates for the 30th, 31st and 32nd Virginia State Senate races and the 45th, 47th, 48th and 49th House of Delegates races will take questions from Civic Federation delegates.

The forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, at the Washington-Lee High School auditorium (1300 N. Quincy Street). The auditorium is taking the place of the normal venue, Virginia Hospital’s Hazel Conference Center, which is being renovated.

Another Candidate Night will be held on Oct. 4 for the candidates for County Board, County Treasurer, Commissioner of Revenue, Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney and Virginia School Board.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Storm Shopping Clears Shelves — Residents are taking the advice of emergency officials and shopping for essential items in advance of Hurricane Irene. At the Potomac Yard Target store last night, shopping carts were at a premium, milk was running low and bottled water was completely sold out.

Two Candidates Challenge Brink — Del. Bob Brink will have to work a bit harder to keep his 48th District House of Delegates seat. Brink is facing general election challenges from Independent Green candidate Janet Murphy and from McLean resident Kathleen Gillette Mallard, who has ties to the Tea Party. [Sun Gazette]

Major Crystal City Employer Purchased — Bloomberg LP has purchased the Bureau of National Affairs, a specialized industry reporting outfit headquartered in Crystal City. Bloomberg says it plans to run BNA, which has more than 600 employees, as a “stand-alone subsidiary.” [Washington Post]

Office of Emergency Management Video — Rest assured that Arlington County is ready for Hurricane Irene. But be a bit worried about the county’s ability to properly operate a video camera. [YouTube]

Fairfax Times Rips Off ARLnow.com Quote — The Washington Post-owned Fairfax Times has copied, verbatim, a quote from an ARLnow.com article on the 31st District state Senate primary without proper attribution. The quote from Betsy Wildhack only appeared on ARLnow.com — we were the only news outlet there at the time — but yet now appears at the end of a Fairfax Times article without any sort of credit or acknowledgement.

Democrats Talk Unity After Bruising Primary

By ARLnow.com

Local Democrats are putting the unprecedented mud-slinging leading up to Tuesday’s primary behind them as they press forward to November’s general election with a slate of four candidates and two Republican challengers.

“For months, our Democratic candidates have waged energetic and spirited primary campaigns, and we look forward to all campaigns being able to turn this energy into supporting our united Democratic ticket in November,” said Arlington County Democratic Committee Chair Mike Lieberman, following a 31st District state Senate race that the Washington Post called “one of the most heated, unpleasant races in recent memory.”

Candidates Barbara Favola and Jaime Areizaga-Soto, who were trading accusations of making racist statements and destroying the environment less than two weeks ago, are now making nice via prepared statements.

“We ran an energetic, grassroots, progressive campaign throughout the 31st District in Northern Virginia and I am very proud of the work we did,” Areizaga-Soto said in a statement. “I call on all my supporters throughout Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun to work for a Barbara Favola victory in November.

“This campaign… demonstrated that Mr. Areizaga-Soto and I share the same strong commitment to Democratic values,” Favola said in a statement. “I applaud Mr. Areizaga-Soto’s service to the Democratic Party and to the Country. His talents will be a significant asset in the upcoming battle to retain the 31st Senate seat”

In an interview, Favola said she hopes the race between herself and Republican Caren Merrick will stay focused on the issues.

“I’m hopeful that the general will be a civil conversation on issues like education, transportation, the environment and creating jobs,” she said. “I think voters really don’t like the negative campaigning. They really want to be given a reason to vote for you.”

Favola says she’s ready to face the well-funded Merrick, adding that Democratic unity will help her prevail.

“We’re geared up to move into the general,” she said. “We have a great message, we’re positive, we’re talking about issues people care about… I absolutely think Democrats are going to be able to unite. We know that the stakes are high. It’s not just winning the 31st, it’s keeping control of the state Senate. I have every indication they’ll rally around.”

In the Sun Gazette today, Merrick called the mud-slinging between Favola and Areizaga-Soto an example of “what’s wrong with politics today.” Should the general election turn negative, however, Favola says she isn’t sure how her issue-focused campaign will react.

“I guess one thing about politics is that it’s always unpredictable,” she said. “I’m not going to presuppose how we’re going to respond.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Aftershock Felt Across Region — A 4.5 magnitude aftershock jolted some residents out of bed just after 1:00 last night. The epicenter of the aftershock was five miles south of Mineral, Virginia, epicenter of Tuesday’s 5.8 magnitude quake. [U.S. Geological Survey]

Arlington Was Krupicka’s Waterloo — In the three-way primary battle for the 30th District state Senate seat, Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka picked up nearly half of the vote in his hometown. But he garnered a measly 14 percent of the vote in Arlington, allowing Del. Adam Ebbin to press his local advantage and claim victory. “Ignore Arlington at your peril,” says the Sun Gazette. Meanwhile, Krupicka says his political career may be over. [Sun Gazette, Del Ray Patch]

Design Proposal for Ft. Myer Heights Playground — The design for a new playground in Ft. Myer Heights includes “nature-themed playground apparatuses,” “two picnic tables and a barbecue” and “a sand play area with a non-potable water pump.” [Ode Street Tribune]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Post-Earthquake Safety Tips — Arlington County is advising residents to call a structural engineer if they find cracks in their brick facades or chimneys following yesterday’s earthquake. [Arlington County]

Favola/Areizaga-Soto Primary By the Numbers — Just over 10,000 people voted in yesterday’s 31st District state Senate primary between Barbara Favola and Jaime Areizaga-Soto, out of 133,577 active registered voters in the district. More than $538,500 had been spent on the race as of Aug. 10. In other words, candidates ended up spending more than $53 for every resident who bothered to cast a vote in the race.

Arlington Confusion — In case you were wondering, there are 21 different localities in the United States called ‘Arlington,’ in states like Texas, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Vermont and New York. [Falls Church News-Press]

Hotel Hosts ‘Top Dog’ Contest — The new Residence Inn Arlington Capital View in Crystal City is holding a contest to find a “doggie mascot” for the hotel. The winner of the contest will be selected at an event on Oct. 6 by a panel of judges including “Arlington County K-9 division, veterinarians, doggie trainers and… Fox 5 Anchor Steve Chenevey.” Entrants need to include a photo of their pooch, his or her name, age, breed and best trick, and a $25 donation to the Washington Humane Society. [Marketwire, Residence Inn]

Flickr pool photo by Divaknevil

Democratic Primary Results

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 9:55 p.m.) After months of campaigning, four local Democrats are declaring victory in tonight’s primary election.

Arlington County Board member Barbara Favola has decisively won the acrimonious race for the 31st District state Senate seat. With all precincts reporting, Favola has captured 65 percent of the vote to Jaime Areizaga-Soto’s 35 percent. Favola will face a well-funded Republican challenger, Caren Merrick, in November.

Del. Adam Ebbin, meanwhile, has squeaked by Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka in the three-way race for the 30th District state Senate seat. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Ebbin has 39 percent of the vote to Kupricka’s 36 percent and Arlington school board member Libby Garvey’s 25 percent. Ebbin will face Republican hopeful Timothy McGhee in November.

Alfonso Lopez will be the 49th District’s next House of Delegates member, succeeding the victorious Ebbin. Lopez defeated Stephanie Clifford 66 percent to 34 percent with all precincts reporting. Lopez will be running unopposed in the fall.

Finally, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos will be getting a bigger office. Stamos handily fended off defense attorney David Deane in the race for Commonwealth’s Attorney in Arlington. Stamos captured 82 percent of the vote to Deane’s 18 percent. Stamos does not have a challenger in the general election.

Arlington elections officials say that 10.3 percent of the county’s active registered voters cast a ballot during today’s election.

“Not so bad for [a] predicted slow primary day [with an] earthquake,” officials said via Twitter.

Election Goes on Despite Earthquake

By ARLnow.com

Voting in Arlington is proceeding as normal, despite today’s earthquake.

All voting centers are open, according to county elections officials, but voting has been moved outside at the George Mason University voting center due to the university’s decision to close all of its buildings. Some voting centers were briefly evacuated after the quake, but polls will close at 7:00 p.m. as scheduled.

“We should be fine… there have been no reports of any issues at all,” said Arlington County Registrar Linda Lindberg. She noted that the only people calling to ask about keeping the polls open later have been the candidates themselves.

Lindberg said overall turnout is still estimated to be about 7 to 10 percent of active registered voters.

“Turnout is about what we’ve expected so far,” she said.

According to Lindberg, turnout is expected to be higher in the 31st state Senate District, the battleground of a contentious Democratic primary.

Morning Poll: When Are You Voting?

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 9:10 a.m.) The polls are open until 7:00 tonight in Arlington. That should give residents plenty of time to cast their votes in the four primary races on the ballot. As a recap, here’s a list of who is running, along with links to their candidate essays.

If you’re a registered voter, when are you planning on voting, if at all?


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