Natalie Roy To Run As Democrat Again For Arlington County Board Seat

ARLINGTON, VA — Natalie Roy, a local Realtor who ran for Arlington County Board in 2023, announced Monday that she is running again as a Democrat for the county board seat held by fellow Democrat Libby Garvey.

Garvey will be seeking her fourth term on the board if she decides to run for re-election. In an email to Patch on Monday, Garvey said she will be deciding in January or early February if she will run again.

Julie Farnam, who serves on the board of the Arlington Ridge Civic Association, also announced Monday that she will be seeking the Democratic nomination for county board in 2024.

“I strongly believe that the Arlington County Board needs a voice like mine advocating for more transparency and responsiveness,” Roy said in a statement Monday.

In the Democratic primary held earlier this year for two open seats on the county board, the Arlington County Board’s decision to use ranked choice voting may have prevented Roy from winning one of the two nominations.

After the primary election, Susan Cunningham and Roy had received the most first choice votes, with Cunningham getting 25 percent, or 6,837 votes, and Roy receiving 24 percent, or 6,592. But with ranked choice voting, Maureen Coffey and Cunningham both crossed the 33.3-percent vote threshold needed to win in the election before Roy.

Among the six candidates who ran in the Democratic primary earlier this year, Roy and Cunningham were the only two who opposed the Missing Middle Housing plan that was adopted by the Arlington County Board on March.

The Arlington County Board chose not to use ranked choice voting in the general election for county board in November.

Roy said during the campaign earlier this year that the board's vote in favor of the Missing Middle Housing plan "is the antithesis of smart growth" and that the county board "is pinning its goals on developers to create affordable housing."

Roy said she will be hosting a pre-holiday campaign launch on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington at 3045b Columbia Pike.

RELATED:

• Julie Farnam To Run As Democrat In 2024 For Arlington County Board
• Cunningham, Roy, Coffey Lead In 1st Choice Votes In Arlington Primary