Cunningham, Roy, Coffey Lead In 1st Choice Votes In Arlington Primary

ARLINGTON, VA — Election results of first choice votes in Arlington's Democratic primary for county board show Susan Cunningham with 25 percent, Natalie Roy with 24 percent, Maureen Coffey with 22 percent, and JD Spain with 20 percent.

The Democratic primary for county board was the first election in Arlington to use ranked choice voting.

Among the other candidates, Tony Weaver received 5 percent of the first choice votes, while Jonathan Dromgoole received 4 percent.

See live election results for local races at the bottom of this story.

After Tuesday's count of the first choice votes, the ranked choice voting tabulation process will begin Friday afternoon at the earliest, according to the Arlington Office of Voter Registration & Elections.

During the tabulation process, the reallocation of first choice votes for Weaver and Dromgoole could change the order of the candidates with the most first choice votes.

The county's election staff is reportedly expecting final results in the Democratic primary for county board to be released on Sunday.

The six candidates ran to fill the seats currently held by Board Member Katie Cristol and Board Chairman Christian Dorsey, who each announced in 2022 that they would not run for re-election to a third term.

For voters who participated in Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary election, the Arlington County Board is requesting community feedback on the use of ranked choice voting. Voters are invited to take three to five minutes to fill out a feedback form about their ranked choice voting experience. The feedback form will close on July 5.

The two winners of the primary for county board will run as the Democratic Party's candidates in the general election in November.

"Finally, the day has come, the day for our citizenry to get out and exercise their right to vote," Spain said shortly before 9 a.m. on Tuesday outside the Overlee Knolls and Lexington precincts, his fourth campaign stop of the morning. "I'm feeling pretty good, but I'm not overly confident."

Spain said his campaign left no stone unturned. "The level of engagement in the community, whether it's been on the north side, south side, east side, west side, has been very robust for this campaign," he said. "There are 50 polling sites in Arlington, and I'm going to visit as many as I can today."

Fellow candidate Maureen Coffey said her campaign, since she announced her candidacy in January, has gone even better than she imagined.

"Whatever happens today, I'm really proud of the race that we ran. I think we've made an impact on talking about issues that are really important," Coffey said. "A lot of people are really excited to have some new voices on the county board."

Housing affordability issues are "front and center, and we have to address them," she said about her conversations with voters.

"Folks are also very impressed with how well-thought-out and thorough I've been in this campaign, really thinking about the policy and focusing on what we can get done," Coffey said.

"In addition, there's a lot of people who want to vote for a young person," added Coffey, who is the youngest of the six candidates running in the Democratic primary for county board.

Michael, a resident of the Lyon Park neighborhood, told Patch he decided to volunteer for Roy's campaign due almost exclusively to the county's decision to pursue rezoning of single-family areas of Arlington County.

"Complete disinterest in county-level politics previously," he said. "This one, single topic has brought me out."

The Arlington County Board had promised early in the Missing Middle Housing process not to do "any rash, countywide rezoning," Michael said. "Last fall, I started to attend the open town hall meetings and realized about 70 percent of my neighbors — or at least the ones who show up — are opposed to this concept."

Michael said he conducted his own survey of Lyon Park residents and found that 83 percent of his neighbors were opposed to Missing Middle, or expanded housing options.

If the Missing Middle plan included only townhouses and duplexes and not buildings with up to six units, "you wouldn't see me here right now" campaigning for Roy, he added.

For those who requested a mail-in ballot for the Democratic primary, it must be postmarked on or before June 20. The mail must be received by the Arlington County Department of Elections before noon on Friday, June 23.

RELATED:

• Arlington Board Candidates Make Last Pitches Ahead Of Primary Election
• Arlington Democrats Debate Offers New Look At County Board Candidates
• Arlington Board Candidates Call For Close Monitoring Of Missing Middle

View unofficial election results for Arlington County below. Be sure to refresh this page for the latest.