ARLINGTON, VA — Many officials active with the local Democratic Party have rallied around Julius “J.D.” Spain, who spent most of his career in the U.S. Marine Corps, and Maureen Coffey, a think tank analyst, in their bids to replace Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol on the Arlington County Board.
Other Democrats, who are not as closely tied to the county’s Democratic Party machine, have expressed support for local businessman Tony Weaver, while Susan Cunningham, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant, and real-estate agent Natalie Roy are also receiving support from Democrats, along with Republicans who want to bring more ideological diversity to the county board.
These five candidates, along with LGBTQ, Latino and political activist Jonathan Dromgoole, are on the Democratic Party ballot for the two county board seats in the June 20 primary election.
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For the first time in Arlington, voters will use ranked-choice voting, where they get to pick their top-three choices, ranked first, second and third. The top two finishers in the primary will then run in the general election for county board in November.
Over the past three months, the Arlington County Board’s vote to approve the controversial Missing Middle Housing zoning plan has been the most talked-about topic at county board candidate forums. The current five-person county board, all of whom are Democrats, voted on March 22 to approve the Missing Middle plan, which will eliminate single-family zoning across Arlington.
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READ ALSO: Arlington Democrats Debate Offers New Look At County Board Candidates
Dorsey and Cristol, the two strongest voices on the board in favor of Missing Middle, decided not to run for third terms in office. Cristol has announced she will be leaving the county board in July, six months before her term expires, to serve as the CEO of a business group in the Tysons area.
In a county dominated by Democrats, the two winners of the primary on June 20 are expected to be victorious in the general election in November, although independent candidate Audrey Clement could receive a significant number of votes, given her anti-Missing Middle stance, popular among many Arlingtonians, and her criticism of the county board for not offering any property tax relief to residents in recent years.
At a candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that included the six Democratic candidates and Clement, Spain touted his endorsements from the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors and YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, a group that advocates for denser housing and infill development and organized in support of passing the Missing Middle Housing plan in Arlington.
On Thursday, the Gazette Leader endorsed Roy and Spain in the Democratic primary for county board.
“Roy would be our No. 1 pick in part because she, more than any other candidate on the ballot, understands the risks that no-holds-barred urbanization will have on residents, and has been unabashed in calling for a think-it-through approach to moving forward,” the Gazette Leader wrote in the endorsement.
As for Spain, the Gazette Leader wrote that “he has been reasonable and solutions-oriented on the stump and, we believe (or perhaps hope), would be thoughtful in his approach to governance matters that come before him.”
READ ALSO: Arlington Board Candidates Call For Close Monitoring Of Missing Middle
Both Weaver and Cunningham received honorable mentions in the Gazette Leader’s endorsements.
Along with the Gazette Leader and the YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, Spain has received endorsements from traditional liberal groups across Arlington, including the local chapter of the Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club’s support for Missing Middle, based in part on the argument that it would reduce suburban sprawl in Loudoun and Prince William counties, did not sit well with all of its members.
In response to the Sierra Club’s endorsement of Missing Middle, long-time Arlington civic activist Suzanne Smith Sundburg called the group’s leaders “shameless, greenwashing political hacks,” ARLnow reported.
“The Sierra Club’s endorsement of paving over the last bit of Arlington that isn’t already paved … has left many Arlingtonians speechless,” Sundburg said.
In her current campaign for Arlington County board and when she ran unsuccessfully for county board in 2022, Clement argued that greatly expanding housing construction in Arlington under the Missing Middle Housing plan will further reduce the already small amount of green space in the county and will not prevent suburban sprawl.
At Thursday’s candidate forum, each candidate was asked about a recent Arlington County Board decision that they thought was a mistake. Both Roy and Cunningham pointed to the adoption of the Missing Middle Housing plan in March.
In her response to the question, Coffey said it is tough to judge the county board’s decisions because they have access to “so much more and different information than the public really has.”
Cunningham countered Coffey’s answer by saying the Arlington County Board “shouldn’t have vastly more information than the public.” There needs to be more transparency when the board makes its decisions, Cunningham said.
Citing the support for Missing Middle by the Sierra Club and many other organizations, Spain, who strongly supported eliminating single-family zoning, said he is “perplexed” by his fellow candidates — Roy and Cunningham — who believe the county board should not have adopted the Missing Middle plan.
Early in-person voting in the Democratic Party primary is being held at Courthouse Plaza through June 16 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Early voting will also take place at Courthouse Plaza on Saturday, June 10 and Saturday, June 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on each day. Extra hours will be provided for voting at Courthouse Plaza on Tuesday, June 13 and Thursday, June 15, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In-person early voting will also be held at the Madison Community Center and Walter Reed Community Center on these dates:
On Election Day, Tuesday, June 20, all Arlington polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters must vote at their assigned location. Visit the Arlington County elections website to see where to vote and to see the list of Arlington’s polling places.
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