Fairfax City Election: Catherine Read, Stacy Hall Top Vote-Getters

(Update: Wednesday, 5:25 a.m.)

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — With all precincts reporting and Elction Day votes counted, Mayor Catherine Read defeated challenger Susan Hartley Kuiler in the Fairfax City mayor's race, according to unofficial results reported by the Virginia Board of Elections.

"I’m honored to have the confidence of Fairfax City residents to serve a second term as Mayor," Read said, early Wednesday morning. "I appreciate the efforts of all the candidates who ran for local office and the time and effort they invested in reaching out to voters. I look forward to working with those elected to the city council."

In the race to fill the six open seats on the Fairfax City Council, Stacy R. Hall, Thomas D. "Tom" Peterson, Billy Bates, Stacey D. Hardy-Chandler, and Anthony T. Amos had garnered the most votes, according to unofficial results. However, for the sixth seat on the council, Rachel M. McQuillen and Kate G. Doyle Feingold were tied, as of 12:35 a.m.

On Tuesday night, the City of Fairfax Office of Elections submitted counts for early voting, election day and mailed absentee ballots to the state election office, according to Wannicha Rojanapradith, the city’s general registrar and director of elections. All the numbers ono the state site have been verified.

Provisional and post-election ballots are the only votes left to count. The first are ballots that voters cast if they were registering at the polls on Election Day. Post-election ballots are those that are postmarked by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 and received by the local general registrar no later than 12 p.m. on the third day following Election Day, according to the state board of elections. Ballots that have the correct postmark but are not received by the deadline will not be counted.

Fairfax City Mayor

• Catherine S. Read: 7,710 votes (57.06%)
• Susan Hartley Kuiler: 1,920 votes (42.12%)
• Write-In: 100 votes (0.81%)

*Incumbent

Fairfax City Council

• Stacy R. Hall: 5,922 votes (11.38%)
• Kate G. Doyle Feingold*: 5,120 votes (9.84%)
• Rachel M. McQuillen: 5,120 votes (9.84%)
• Amini Elizabeth Bonane: 1,893 votes (3.64%)
• Billy M. Bates*: 5,391 votes (10.36%)
• Jeffrey C. Greenfield*: 5,011 votes (9.63%)
• Stacey D. Hardy-Chandler: 5,376 votes (10.33%)
• Thomas D. "Tom" Peterson: 5,754 votes (11.05%)
• Anthony T. Amos: 5,192 votes (9.98%)
• Jack F. Ryan: 2,181 votes (4.19%)
• Taylor A. Geaghan: 4,812 votes (9.25%)
• Write-In: 227 votes (0.53%)

*Incumbent

In addition to the national races, City of Fairfax residents voted for candidates running in the mayoral, city council and school board races. The ballot also included a public schools bond for Fairfax City voters.

Susan Hartley Kuiler was challenging incumbent Catherine Read in the mayor's race. At the end of August, Kuiler was leading Read in fundraising by about $2,000, but then Read jumped ahead at the end of September, raising $16,343 to Kuiler’s $14,306, according to state financial filings, as reported by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project. As of Oct. 24, Read's campaign has received $19,418 in donations as compared to the $15,091 in contributions to Kuiler's campaign.

In 1984, Read graduated with a bachelors of arts in government and politics from George Mason University. Having worked in data processing and human relations, she owns two small businesses, including a social media consultancy started in 2007 when it was called "online marketing." Most recently she worked in nonprofit advocacy and also hosted weekly shows for Fairfax Public Access.

For full coverage of the election in Virginia, go here.

Kuiler worked for 40 years in the public and private sectors in software development, project and program management, and capital planning and investment control. She led teams that developed disaster response and recovery systems for FEMA and a variety of IT solutions for other agencies.

She also has experience serving as the president of the Cambridge Station Association, a self-managed City Homeowners Association, and as Grounds and Maintenance Chair.

Eleven candidates ran for six open seats on the Fairfax City Council: Anthony Amos, Billy Bates, Amini Elizabeth Bonane, Kate Doyle Feingold, Taylor A. Geaghan, Jeff Greenfield, Stacy Hall, Stacey Hardy-Chandler, Rachel McQuillen, Tom Peterson and Jack Ryan. Bates, Feingold and Greenfield are incumbents.

Between June 1 and Oct. 24, Amos racked up a total of $28,158 in contributions, which is about $6,000 more than the $22,276 received by fellow candidate Greenfield, who was second among the 11 candidates in terms of fundraising, according to VPAP. The donations raised by the other candidates' campaigns are as follows: Peterson ($10,024), Hall ($8,595), Bates ($8,084), Doyle Feingold ($6,750), Hardy-Chandler ($5,499), McQuillen ($4,651), Ryan ($2,500); Bonane ($1,260) and Geaghan ($24).

Five candidates are running for five seats on the school board, three newcomers, Lauren Bartelme, Kristina M. Cecere, Amit Hickman and two incumbents, Sarah Kelsey and Carolyn Pitches.

Read More:

• Read, Amos Surpass Opponents In Campaign Fundraising: Final Reports
• Poll Fuels Debate Over Partisan Vs. Nonpartisan Elections In Fairfax
• Fairfax City Election: When Is A Recommendation Not An Endorsement?
• First-Time Fairfax City Council Candidate Racks Up $25K In Donations
• Fairfax Mayor's Race: Read Out-Raises Kuiler Campaign By $2K
• Hope Rather Than Doom And Gloom Is Geaghan's Mission For Fairfax City
• Harris Candidacy 'Motivates' Fairfax City Council Candidate: Report
• 'Great Things About Fairfax Deserve To Be Preserved,' Says Jack Ryan
• Although Small, Fairfax City Faces Very Big Challenges: Tom Peterson
• Hardy-Chandler Calls On Voters To Move Fairfax City Forward Together
• Kuiler Outraises Read In Fairfax City Mayor's Race: Campaign Finance
• Affordable Housing, Increasing Walkability Priorities For Billy Bates
• Make Fairfax Accessible, Safe, Sustainable For All Residents: Bonane
• McQuillen Aims To Bring 'Collaborative Leadership' To City Council
• Kate Doyle Feingold Pledges To Be Responsive To All Constituents
• 'This Is Your City And Your Opinion Matters,' Says Stacy Hall
• Kuiler Promises To Maintain Trust, Support Of All City Residents
• 'What We're Talking About Is Not Partisanship,' Catherine Read Says
• Partisan Or Nonpartisan Election: How Fairfax City Ballots Differ