As usual, Labor Day marked the unofficial kick-off of the fall electoral season with two seminal events in the City of Falls Church, the annual Falls Church Democratic Committee’s ice cream social in Cherry Hill Park and a Democratic state delegate Marcus Simon’s fundraiser now held in a spacious backyard at a home in downtown Falls Church.
Both events were unusually well attended, with over 60 showing up for the ice cream and over 100 for Simon’s event. Both were keynoted by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer Jr., who again quipped that Falls Church is the “center of the known universe,” clarifying in his second appearance that while the Little City is not the center of the U.S., from the broader perspective of the universe as a whole, it is indeed the center.
Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi was also present to speak both times, along with a bevy of folks on the ballot this fall who either spoke or were introduced, not the least of which was Democratic congressional candidate James Walkinshaw, who is on the ballot in a special election being held in his 11th District just west of Falls Church, with early voting now going on and election day being next Tuesday, Sept. 9. Walkinshaw, currently a Fairfax County Supervisor, is running to fill the unexpired term of his popular former boss, the late U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, who died in May, against Republican challenger Stewart Whitson, a Trump devotee.
The regional campaign coordinator for Spanberger for Governor attended the first event. Spanberger is on the ballot this November pitted against GOP pro-Trump rival and current Virginia lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears. The statewide candidates for lieutenant governor, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi and Republican John Reid, and for attorney general, Democrat Jay Jones and Republican Jason Miyares, are also on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election day, with early voting beginning Sept. 19.
Falls Church City Council and School Board elections are now hitting full steam, too, with the same election day and early voting launch, and hopefuls abounded yesterday.
But the first big event to which all candidates have been invited occurs this Friday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. at the Falls Church Arts Gallery, 700 W. Broad when the Citizens for a Better City (CBC) will host a social event aimed at an opportunity for all the candidates to interact informally with whomever shows up and give very brief remarks.
There are six candidates vying for four seats on the seven member Falls Church City Council. They include three incumbents – Marybeth Connelly, Laura Downs and David Snyder – and three first-time candidates, Arthur Akin, Brian Pendleton and James Thompson.
There are five candidates competing for four seats on the Falls Church School Board, including incumbents Lori Silverman, Anne Sherwood and Kathleen Tysee and first-time candidates MaryKate Hughes and Sharon Mergler.
In addition to the meet-and-greet this Friday, the CBC will co-host, with the local PTAs, a public forum for School Board candidates on October 16 and another forum, co-hosted with Falls Church Forward, for City Council candidates on October 22.
In his comments at the Simon event Monday, Beyer asserted that Virginia “will never be a state that capitulates to Donald Trump.”
In introducing Walkinshaw, he honored the legacy of the late Rep. Connolly, for whom Walkinshaw served as chief of staff for years. Beyer said, “As Nancy Scott, wife of the late State Del. Jim Scott, who hosted Labor Day events for many years, noted from her husband’s funeral, it was said “everyone was deeply sad and deeply joyful at the same time” for the significant contributions made in a wonderful life. Nancy Scott attended the event. The next day, Beyer formally endorsed Walkinshaw, saying, “Fairfax was lucky to have a leader in my friend Gerry Connolly in Congress, and now, we need someone ready to carry the mantle in Congress. I’m proud to tell you: That person is James Walkinshaw.”
On Monday, Walkinshaw noted the pro-Trump loyalties of his Republican opponent and that his election next Tuesday will be “a key opportunity to elect a Democrat in a special election since Trump took office in January.” Charniele Herring, the Democratic majority leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, said this fall represents an opportunity for her party’s hair-thin majority in Richmond to grow significantly.
Others electeds from neighboring districts to Falls Church introduced included Vivian Watts, Rip Sullivan, Karl Frisch, Jimmy Bierman, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, Paul Krizak and Paul Fergeson and former electeds Dick Saslaw and Kate Hanley.
In his remarks, Del. Simon said that “no one person can save us,” but in the spirit of Labor Day, “solidarity will get us through.” He said about this fall’s elections, “We in Virginia will send a message to the world that the Republicans’ days are numbered.”