Democrats in Northern Virginia’s innermost suburbs appeared to sweep local elections Tuesday, maintaining their full control of governing bodies in Arlington and Alexandria.
The results drew a stark contrast to statewide elections in Virginia, where Democrats at the top of the ticket trailed.
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In Alexandria, incumbent Mayor Justin Wilson (D) handily beat Republican challenger Annetta M. Catchings, winning a second term to lead the city in a relatively quiet race that highlighted issues of policing, urban development and infrastructure.
Nearby, Arlington County Board member Takis Karantonis (D) won reelection in the only open seat on that five-member body.
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Wilson said his victory served as validation “that a majority of the residents of this city are comfortable with the direction we have been going in, particularly coming out of the pandemic and understanding this is going to require difficult choices.” He won by more than 30 percentage points, according to unofficial results.
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Alexandria’s mayor, whose powers are limited in the city of about 160,000, is likely to preside over an all-Democrat council — although it will be one that features several new faces.
Incumbent City Council members Canek Aguirre, John Taylor Chapman and Amy B. Jackson were on track to win reelection to their seats, as was also the case for first-time Democratic candidates Sarah R. Bagley, Alyia Smith-Parker Gaskins and R. Kirk McPike.
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Two independents, Florence King and Glenda Gail Parker, and one Republican, Daryl Nirenberg, had also sought election to the council.
Alexandria voters select all six council members at-large, although this year’s race saw some candidates advocate for a return to a ward-based system. If tradition holds, the top vote-getter in the race will be selected by colleagues to serve as vice mayor.
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“Experience matters on City Council,” Chapman said. “It means having that experience to work through a number of issues, such as housing affordability, infrastructure, school capacity, public safety, equitable use of tax dollars.” Having served three terms, he will also be the longest-serving member of the council.
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Wilson said he was excited about the group of council members-elect, noting the long list of obstacles facing the city — from pandemic recovery to updating the city’s crumbling stormwater infrastructure.
“We’re going to have a mix of some experience as well as some really exciting newcomers with a lot of energy and knowledge,” he said. “This is a team that brings a lot of strengths that are going to be really beneficial at this time. "
Alexandria’s races saw several clashes between candidates about the city’s school resource officer program — a divisive issue that had been the subject of several contentious votes at City Hall.
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After the council voted 4 to 3 in the spring to pull the armed police out of school hallways — over objections from the school board and superintendent — lawmakers narrowly reversed the decision last month, following several fights and incidents involving students and weapons.
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Wilson, who twice voted in favor of the School Resource Officer program, had also been criticized by Catchings over the city’s guaranteed income pilot program, which will use federal stimulus funds to give no-strings-attached checks to 150 low-income families.
But at the polls Tuesday, some voters said other issues — including affordable housing, economic growth and pedestrian and bike safety — were top of mind.
Susan B. Kellom, a 74-year-old retiree, said she cast her ballot for Wilson and the entire Democratic slate, praising the mayor’s efforts to narrow traffic lanes on Seminary Road to make more space for bikers.
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“He is so innovative,” she said at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy in Old Town. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s smart, he does it right and he works really well with people.”
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At the Mount Vernon Recreational Center in Del Ray, software engineer Mrunai Joshi, 30, said Wilson had also earned his support, thanks to his efforts to increase affordable housing at a time when it had been disappearing.
“I do own a house in Alexandria, but I understand and appreciate that it’s not very doable for most millennials,” she said. “Wilson is pushing for more multifamily housing, and we need to see more of that.”
Rebecca Anderson, 47, said Wilson had made himself available to residents during his first term. When her job as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools required her to return to the classroom, the mayor himself helped her find care for her young daughter, she said.
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“He got right back to me about some avenues I could take to find day care,” she said.
But she disagreed with the council’s move to defund the SRO program, opting for Nirenberg, the Republican, over Aguirre, and selecting the five other candidates on the Democratic slate.
In Arlington, Karantonis won his first full term to the five-member body, securing about 60 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. He first won the seat in a special election last year after the resignation and death of Erik Gutshall.
Karantonis said the victory pointed to voters’ “humbling confidence” in the work he and his Democratic colleagues had done “in a very difficult, critical year of covid and how we made it possible for the community to absorb the impact.”
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An urban planner and economist, Karantonis pledged to support small businesses, vulnerable communities and future Arlington residents while emphasizing his immigrant roots.
Savannah Wallace, 26, said she had witnessed Karantonis’ efforts on transportation when he served as executive director of Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. He pushed for improved bus coverage and pedestrian access, which helped connect the neighborhood to the rest of Arlington, she said.
Hannah Jiang, Henry Rogers and Zinya Salfiti contributed to this report.