Arlington School Board Candidate 'Suspending' Campaign

ARLINGTON, VA — James "Vell" Rives, one of two candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot, said Monday he is "suspending" his campaign for Arlington School Board.

"For various reasons, I am suspending my 2023 campaign and am instead working on a future run for Arlington County School Board," Rives said in an announcement to supporters.

"For now, please stay involved in our schools, and help out where you can," Rives said.

The winner of the November general election will replace Arlington School Board Chair Reid Goldstein, who decided not to seek re-election.

In April, Rives announced that he had qualified for the general election ballot for Arlington School Board. Rives, a psychiatrist, is a past co-chair of Arlington Public Schools' School Health Advisory Board. He currently represents the School Health Advisory Board on the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative.

In 2022, Rives also ran for Arlington School Board, losing to Bethany Sutton in the general election.

Miranda Turner, the other candidate listed on the general election ballot, won the school board endorsement vote held by the Arlington County Democratic Committee in May.

Turner, a lawyer, was a founding member of the Drew PTA in 2019. She was also a founding member of Arlington Parents for Education, an advocacy group that favored a return to in-person education in the fall of 2020, six months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.