Partisan Or Nonpartisan Election: How Fairfax City Ballots Differ

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — As of 5 p.m. on Monday, 443 Fairfax City voters cast ballots in the 2024 general election since early voting started on Friday. That's about 1-2 percent of the city's registered voters, according to Wannicha Rojanapradith, the city's general registrar and director of elections.

Although there is one official ballot in Fairfax City, voters going to the polls at City Hall may have been handed other sample ballots, which could be confusing.

Traditionally, city elections have been nonpartisan and independent, but that changed in 2022 when the Fairfax City Democratic Committee endorsed a slate of candidates running for mayor and city council for the first time and handed out sample ballots at the polls.

Earlier this year, the Democratic committee endorsed four candidates for the Nov. 5 election cycle: Catherine Read, Billy Bates, Taylor A. Geaghan and Stacey Hardy-Chandler. When early voting started, volunteers began handing out a blue sample ballot, paid for and authorized by The City of Fairfax Democratic Committee, although it was "not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee," the sample ballot said.

The four candidates appear as independent on the official ballot because the City Charter and the Code of Virginia do not specifically bar endorsement by a political party.

Instead, the charter says: "The ballots used in the election of Council members and Mayor shall be without any distinguishing mark or symbol." This has been interpreted to mean that all candidates, whether endorsed or not, are "independent" on the ballot.

All Fairfax City Candidates Are Independent On The Ballot

Voters who have already visited the polls may have been handed a yellow and white sample ballot for the seven candidates running under the "Independent Fairfax City" banner: Susan Hartley Kuiler, Anthony Amos, Kate Doyle Feingold, Jeff Greenfield, Stacy Hall, Rachel McQuillen and Tom Peterson. The sample ballot was authorized and paid for by the seven candidates or their PACS.

The Independent Fairfax City website gives no indication that it is an official political party or necessarily partisan. It represents itself as a group of candidates who have pooled their resources to run together, seeking to build "a non-partisan, community-focused, sustainable future for Fairfax City."

Like the candidates endorsed by the City Democrats, the seven Independent Fairfax City candidates appear as independents on the official ballot.

Muddying the waters even further are the signs popping up around town proclaiming: "Keep Fairfax City Independent." The signs are paid for and authorized by the Fairfax Commonsense PAC, a political action committee started by attorney Chap Petersen. A former state senator, Petersen was defeated by Saddam Salim in the 2023 Democratic Primary.

In June, Fairfax Commonsense PAC distributed a press release endorsing the seven Independent Fairfax City candidates as the "Fairfax City Independent Ballot."

In September, The Independent News Press distributed the first print edition of The Fairfax Independent, listing Petersen as its owner and publisher, to registered voters across the city. On the front page of the first issue, the newspaper published the partial results of a Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy poll under the headline: "Fairfax City Voters Support Non-Partisan Elections."

Read the Full Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy Poll

Although the brief story accompanying the results mentions the poll had been done on behalf of Fairfax Commonsense, it does not explain what that entity is.

In addition to the candidates already mentioned, there are other candidates on the official ballot running as independents who have not been endorsed by the City Democrats or included in Independent Fairfax City. Amini Elizabeth Bonane and Jack Ryan are running for the city council and Lauren Bartelme, Kristina M. Cecere, Amit Hickman, Sarah Kelsey and Carolyn Pitches are in the school board race.

The Fairfax Independent included responses from Bonane and Ryan among the candidate questionnaires it published in its first issue.

If Everybody Is Independent, Why Does It Matter?

Voters across the political spectrum will decide whether a political endorsement by a political party or the political action committee of a former elected official makes a candidate partisan or not, as well as whether that matters.

For some candidates, though, it is a very serious concern.

Under the Hatch Act, federal employees are prohibited from taking an active part in the "political management or political campaigns (i.e., engage in political activity in concert with a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group)."

Considering federal employees make up a large portion of the region's workforce, many potential candidates would not be able to run for local office if the election was partisan.

That could mean some of the candidates who may have the same political views as candidates endorsed by the City of Fairfax Democratic Committee, are running as nonpartisan, independents on the city ballot because that's what they're required to do.

Councilmember Tom Ross is not seeking reelection this year. While he acknowledged that Democrats did endorse candidates for the first time in 2022, including him, that was not what first raised concerns over partisan politics in the city.

"It was two major factors, " he said. "One was the decision by the general assembly to mandate all local elections statewide would be held in November, rather than the spring. Second, was the early decision by [2022 mayoral canidate] Sang Yi to 'host' a fundraiser attended by Governor Youngkin and other prominent Republicans to raise between $60,000 to $90,000 at their spring 2022 fundraiser."

In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly passed and former Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law SB 1157, which shifted municipal elections from May to November beginning with the 2022 election cycle.

“Nobody votes in the May election,” said Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, who sponsored the legislation.

The bill was viewed as controversial at the time, passing only after Lt. Gov Justin Fairfax cast the tie-breaking vote in the Virginia Senate, according to the Virginia Mercury. The House of Delegates later approved the bill on a 50 to 44 vote, with one abstention.

Petersen, who was servicing in the senate at that time, introduced an amendment that would've kept elections for localities located in District 8 Planning District Commission, which included Fairfax City. But, he withdrew the amendment before the final vote.

Also see ...

• Early Voting Begins For 2024 Election: What's On Fairfax City Ballots
• Trump Signs Replace Missing Harris-Walz Signs At Polls: City Dems
• Poll Fuels Debate Over Partisan Vs. Nonpartisan Elections In Fairfax
• Fairfax City Democrats Endorse 4 Candidates In 2024 Election
• Former Fairfax City Senator's PAC Backs Independent, Nonpartisan Group