U.S. President, Congress & F.C. Council Race on the Ballot

This Fall’s enormously consequential election may still seem a ways off, but in reality it is right on top of us. That’s right, in fact early voting will begin tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 20. Not only will the big one, the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, be on ballots that registered voters in Falls Church will be able to cast at City Hall starting tomorrow, but so will be an important local race to fill a vacancy on the Falls Church City Council.

In that local race, two candidates are on the ballot vying for the support of voters here – former School Board chair Laura Downs and former Board of Zoning Appeals chair John Murphy.

Also on the ballot is a single candidate seeking election to the Falls Church School Board, Anne Sherwood.

The Falls Church League of Women Voters and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society will co-host a Council Candidate Forum for the candidates seeking to fill the open Council seat for the unexpired term through December 31, 2025. It will take place next Thursday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. in the Falls Church Community Center’s Senior Center at 223 Little Falls St.

A second event featuring the two candidates appearing together will constitute the monthly luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the Italian Cafe.

In addition, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy will be co-sponsoring a candidate forum this Friday, Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center. Spanish-language interpretation will be provided for attendees who need it. All the candidates for the U.S. Congress in the 8th and 11th Districts have been invited to participate.

The 8th District (that includes Falls Church) U.S. Congressional candidates on the ballot here are incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., and challengers Republican Jerry Torres and independents David Kennedy and Bentley Hensel.

Candidates for the U.S. Senate are also on the ballot, with incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine running against GOP challenger Hung Cao.

The full list of U.S. presidential and vice presidential candidates on the ballot includes the following: Democratic Party electors for Kamala Harris, president, and Tim Walz, vice president; Republican Party electors for Donald Trump, president, and J.D. Vance, vice president; Green Party electors for Jill Stein, president, and Rudolph Ware III, vice president; Libertarian Party electors for Chase Oliver, president, and Mike der Maat, vice president; Independent electors for Claudia De la Cruz, president, and Karina Garcia, vice president; and, Independent electors for Cornel West, president, and Melina Abdullah, vice president.
Finally, there is a proposed constitutional amendment up for a vote on the ballot that would extend tax exemptions currently available to surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to also be available to surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty.

Everyone who votes in Falls Church will, upon completion of their voting, receive an “I Voted” sticker designed by local student Rion Miller, whose design won out in a competition over the summer.

In the two-way race to fill the vacancy on the Falls Church City Council, the two candidates have already been blanketing the City’s 2.2 square miles with abundant yard signs, with local observers unofficially giving Downs an edge over Murphy in the overall number of sign sightings so far.

In his statement announcing his candidacy, Murphy stated, “While the timeline is compressed to qualify for the November 5th ballot, I’ve hit the ground running. I know campaigning for City Council will be a challenge, but it is well worth it. I was born on Marshall Street, spent my childhood at Mary Riley Styles Library where my mom worked for 43 years, and my wife and I watched our two sons thrive in Falls Church City Schools. I know Falls Church City. I love it here, and I choose to stay here to continue to give back to our community.

“We live in an amazing place. With sustainable development, open responsive governance, and citizen input, we can continue to grow Falls Church, together. We can make it even better going forward.”

Downs, in announcing her candidacy last month, said, “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 U.S. News and World Report as the number one healthiest community in the nation.”