Monday, Aug 19 — Former F.C. School Board chair Laura Downs this morning formally announced her candidacy to fill the now vacant seat on the Falls Church City Council in a special election that will be held in conjunction with the November general U.S. presidential election.

     Downs released the  following statement this morning:

Statement of Laura Downs: 

I’m excited to announce that I’m running for Falls Church City Council!  I will be running to fulfill the term of Caroline Lian who recently resigned.  There will be an election for the seat- it will be on the November 5th ballot. As this special election was just granted, I’m facing a compressed timeline- with 125 signatures due by August 30th to get on the ballot. If you can help gather signatures for me (taking the form to bus stops, sports events, etc.), please respond to this email or shoot me a text. To remind you, having someone sign the form is simply to help get my name on the ballot- it does not commit anyone to vote for me.

In the meantime, I’d love your help spreading the word about my candidacy to your friends and neighbors- especially those who may not know me through the school system. 

My four years on the School Board (including one year as Vice Chair and two years as Chair) provided me with valuable public service experience including working on the city and school budgets with the City Council and General Government.  My husband and I have lived in FCC for 15 years and have loved raising our four boys here and watching our community grow into a vibrant, welcoming “little city,” even being recognized by US News and World Report as the number one healthiest community in the nation. 

There will be more to come.  I value each of you as friends, mentors, community leaders, and colleagues, and wanted you to be the first to know of my plans to run.  

Thank you in advance for your support!

Laura