Jonathan Dromgoole Announces Candidacy For Arlington County Board

ARLINGTON, VA — Jonathan Dromgoole, who works on getting LGBTQ people appointed to the federal government in his role at the LGBTQ Victory Institute, announced his candidacy this week for Arlington County Board.

Dromgoole, who has lived in Ballston, Rosslyn and Pentagon City during his time in Arlington, said his work with the LGBTQ Victory Institute has led to 15 percent of the Biden administration’s appointees being members of the LGBTQ community, the most in U.S. history.

With Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey and Board member Katie Cristol opting not to seek re-election in 2023, several candidates are planning to run for the two open positions.

Dromgoole joins Julius (JD) Spain Sr., former president of the NAACP Arlington Branch and a retired U.S. Marine, and Maureen Coffey, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., and a former Virginia Young Democrats president, in seeking the Democratic nomination for the county board positions in a primary that will take place on June 20.

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Dromgoole’s family eventually immigrated to the United States. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. He then went on to earn a master of public policy from Georgetown University.

Dromgoole also recently graduated from the Sorensen Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program at the University of Virginia.

At a meeting of the Arlington County Democratic Committee at Lubber Run Community Center Tuesday night, Dromgoole announced his candidacy, telling the crowd that he is a proud product of public schools and teenage parents who came to the U.S. from Mexico for a better life, ARLnow reported.

“As queer immigrants, my husband and I knew what it was like to live in many cities without ever calling one home. But I am proud to say we found that sense of belonging here in Arlington, a county I love and am proud to now call home,” Dromgoole said in a statement.

“With this optimism and hope in mind, I am excited to launch my campaign for the Arlington County Board so that I can serve my neighbors and help create systemic changes for our community, a future rooted in equity and prosperity for all residents," he said. "I firmly believe that to get there, we must ensure our government reflects the diversity of our county, which is our strength. With fresh ideas and diverse voices, we can come together and achieve new possibilities.”

At the age of 23, Dromgoole was elected to the board of the North Rosslyn Civic Association where he added his perspective as a millennial and a renter to the conversations around the redevelopment of the Holiday Inn, establishment of a dog park at Gateway Park, and opening of H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program on Wilson Boulevard.

He also helped establish the Arlington Democrats Latino Caucus and the Equality Caucus, with the goal of giving the Latino and LGBTQ community a voice in the decisions of the Arlington Democratic Party.

As president of the Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia, Dromgoole said he transformed DLOV from simply a caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia to "a voice for the community, gaining national recognition among other states' Latino caucuses," according to his campaign website.

In August 2021, Dromgoole was appointed by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as an inaugural member of the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. He serves as a member of the board's Education and Workforce Development subcommittee.

Dromgoole lives in Arlington with his husband and two dogs.

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