4 Votes Separate 2 Fairfax City Council Candidates; Recount Possible

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Only four votes separate city council candidates Kate Doyle Feingold, the incumbent, and challenger Rachel McQuillen, but there are votes cast in the Nov. 4 election that remain to be counted.

After the election night votes were tallied, both candidates were tied with 5,021 votes apiece. As of Friday evening, Doyle Feingold had a four-vote lead over McQuillen, 5,148 votes to 5,144.

Wannicha Rojanapradith, the city’s general registrar and director of elections, told Patch that early voting, Election Day, and mailed absentee ballots had been counted and reported to the State Board of Elections on Friday.

But, all the provisional and some post-election ballots remain to be counted this week. The city’s electoral board will reconvene its provisional ballots meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday.

“The final count will not take place until all provisional ballots have been reviewed and the Electoral Board has determined the number of provisional ballots to be counted,” Rojanapradith said.

Even if Doyle Feingold’s four-vote lead over McQuillen remains after all the votes are counted, that doesn’t mean she’s automatically on the council. Since only a percentage point separates the two candidates, McQuillen can call for a recount. Doyle Feingold can do the same if McQuillen receives more of the remaining votes, but only leads by a percentage point.

“There is no automatic recount,” Rojanapradith said. “The difference must be 1 percent or less for the losing candidates to request a recount. If the difference is less than 0.5 percent, the City will pay for a recount; if the difference is 0.5 percent or more, then the losing candidate requesting the recount must pay for it.”

This would not be the first time the city has gone through a recount. In June 2016, Jeff Greenfield filed for a recount after he lost to Nancy Loftus by three votes in the May election. Once the recount was done, Greenfield was the winner by three votes.

In 2020, city council candidate Anahita N. "Ana" Renner petitioned for a recount after losing by 15 votes to first-time candidate Billy Bates. But, Renner failed to include all of the winning candidates in her petition for a recount and on Dec. 2, a three-judge panel dismissed Renner’s petition.

Patch reached out to Doyle Feingold and McQuillen for a comment about the possibility of a recount.

“Officially, I don't have a statement at this time,” McQuillen said.

No comment from Doyle Feingold has been received. If she does submit one, this story will be updated to include it.

Whoever has the most votes after the tally is complete will fill the remaining at-large council seat.

Unofficially, Stacy R. Hall, Thomas D. "Tom" Peterson, Billy M. Bates, Stacey D. Hardy-Chandler and Anthony Amos have already claimed the other five seats. Here are the vote totals to date ( *denotes an incumbent):

• Stacy R. Hall: 5,955 votes (11.38%)
• Kate G. Doyle Feingold*: 5,148 votes (9.84%)
• Rachel M. McQuillen: 5,144 votes (9.83%)
• Amini Elizabeth Bonane: 1,915 votes (3.66%)
• Billy M. Bates*: 5,415 votes (10.35%)
• Jeffrey C. Greenfield*: 5,032 votes (9.62%)
• Stacey D. Hardy-Chandler: 5,404 votes (10.33%)
• Thomas D. "Tom" Peterson: 5,777 votes (11.04%)
• Anthony T. Amos: 5,221 votes (9.98%)
• Jack F. Ryan: 2,196, votes (4.20%)
• Taylor A. Geaghan: 4,835 votes (9.25%)
• Write-In: 279 votes (0.53%)

The local Electoral Board has until 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, to ascertain election results, and the State Board of Elections will meet on Monday, Dec. 2, to certify the results. No results are official until the State Board of Elections has certified them, according to Rojanapradith.