Being as next Tuesday’s election day in Virginia marks the first major election in the U.S. following the defeat of Trump last November and his attempted coup in January, its importance to all of us simply can’t be overstated. How it turns out here next Tuesday will set the tone for the coming period both nationally and even globally. If Trump can pull off what gets characterized as a victory for him, then we’re all in for a ton of hurt going forward, not to mention that momentum toward another coup attempt against our democratic institutions will be ensured.

Accompanying that will be a huge up-tick in violence and chaos. The best answer to the violence we’re already seeing escalating even at school board meetings around the U.S. is to send a loud message that the Trumpian approach to our politics is soundly rejected at the polls, beginning right here.

It is vital that our readers act as “fighting optimists” to vote and get out the votes of everyone they can at the polls Tuesday, if not before. The fate of our democracy is quite literally at stake, and consequences at the state and local level also cannot be overstated. At the state level, the election of the GOP’s thoroughly Trumpian slate for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general would set Virginia back half a century. Such throwbacks to an unhappy earlier time are guaranteed to foment angry discord and divisions among us.

To blithely cast a vote in the direction of someone simply because he or she is seen as a thorn in the side of a perceived establishment, for example, is playing with fire in times like these. Our political situation is simply too fragile in this period to cast a single vote that way.

We are uniquely challenged to vote as real adults this time, responsible for the world we’re tasked to lead and pass off to our children.

The Falls Church races are pronounced echoes of the national temperament, and happily there are excellent choices available that reflect an adult, responsible commitment.

Given that a new no-excuse advance voting option was available for us for the first time since September, the News-Press weighed in on our early best assessments for our readers. We’ve learned a lot in the meantime, and remain unapologetic in calling attention to what we believe are key issues to consider in advancing the best path forward for our city, nation and world. Now, in the last week before the election, we endorse the following:

Governor of Virginia: Terry McAuliffe. Lieutenant governor: Hala Ayala, Attorney General: Mark Herring. State Delegate: Marcus Simon.

Falls Church City Council: Marybeth Connelly, Deborah Shantz-Hiscott, David Snyder, Caroline Lian.

Falls Church School Board: Tate Gould, David Ortiz, Lori Silverman, Kathleen Tysse.

We also endorse all three Constitutional officers running unopposed but worthy of our support, Treasurer Jody Acosta, Commissioner of the Revenue Tom Clinton and Sheriff Met Kaye.