Start your engines! Early voting begins tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 19, for this fall’s highly consequential elections in Virginia and the City of Falls Church that culminate on Election Day Nov. 4.
This is the first major election since last November’s presidential election. The races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general are on the ballot, as well as all 100 state delegate slots and, for Falls Church, elections for City Council and School Board. The only other major election this year is in New Jersey, so the Virginia elections will be seen as a very important bellwether for identifying a national trend.
On the ballot in Falls Church will be six candidates for four open seats on the City Council, and five candidates for four seats on the School Board.
At this early stage in Falls Church, voters can come to City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, to the Voter Registrar’s Office on the main level, to do their voting, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The next candidate forum for all the Falls Church slots open will be next Thursday, Sept. 25, co-hosted by the Falls Church League of Women Voters and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS), at 7 p.m. at the American Legion Post 130, 400 N. Oak St.
Following that, numerous other opportunities where the candidates will appear together are slated through late October.
On Thursday, Oct. 9, the VPIS will do its version of the open Council candidate meet-and-greet at the Founders Row community room at 110 Founders Avenue, akin two what the CBC did earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, the Citizens for a Better City (CBC) and the Falls Church City PTAs will host a School Board Candidate Forum from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Learning Stairs at Meridian High School, 121 Mustang Alley.
On Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce will invite the Council candidates to appear at its monthly luncheon at the Italian Cafe, 7131 Route 29, at 11:30 a.m. for paid-in-advance attendees.
On Wednesday, Oct. 22, the CBC and Falls Church Forward will host a City Council Candidate Forum from 7:30-9 p.m. at the 301 West Broad apartments in the Community Meeting room.
The League of Women Voters will distribute a voters guide through the News-Press that will appear in its Oct. 2 edition, and also copies will be available at the Mary Riley Styles Public Library, at the polling locations and online.
In advance of the start of voting, the News-Press has endorsed its choices (see editorial, elsewhere this edition) based on its extensive coverage of local political leaders over many years and with consultations with key respected leaders.
By Oct. 1, those who have applied to receive ballots through the mail should have received them, and Oct. 13 is the deadline for registering to vote in this election. Mail in ballots can be submitted at a drop box at City Hall. On Nov. 4, voters can appear at one of their three wards, two of which are in the same location at the Community Center.
The candidates for the Falls Church City Council, in the order they will appear on the ballot, are Laura Downs, David Snyder, Marybeth Connelly, Arthur Agin, Brian Pendleton and James Thompson.
The candidates for the Falls Church School Board are Lori Silverman, Sharon Mergler, Anne Sherwood, MaryKate Hughes and Kathleen Tysse.
The City’s State Delegate is the 13th and the candidates on the ballot will be Democrat Marcus Simon, the incumbent, Republican Sylwia Olesky and Libertarian Dave Crance.
For the City’s three Constitutional offices, the incumbent candidates are all unopposed, including Matt Cay for Sheriff, Thomas Clinton for Commissioner of the Revenue and Jody Acosta for Treasurer.
The statewide races on the Falls Church ballot are for governor, where Democrat Abigail Spanberger is running against Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, for lieutenant governor, where Democrat Ghazala Hashmi is running against Republican John Reid II, and for attorney general, where Democrat Jay Jones is running against Republican Jason Miyares.
A photo copy of a sample ballot with all the races listed is available on the City’s website under its Voter Registrar section.
The campaigns locally are already well underway with yard signs blossoming around the City, and candidates having shown up at key events like the Fall Festival and Taste of Falls Church last Saturday and the Run for the Schools Sunday. Both days drew large crowds in great weather and were worked heavily by the candidates who showed up.
