Wilson Re-Elected, Democrats Lead In Alexandria City Council Election

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Mayor Justin Wilson won re-election and six Democrats are leading the Alexandria City Council election Tuesday, according to unofficial vote tallies. Alexandria had local elections for mayor, City Council, school board, sheriff and commonwealth's attorney as well as state races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and House of Delegates. Patch will update final results for City Council and Alexandria School Board Wednesday.

The city is strongly blue, so Democratic Mayor Justin Wilson easily secured another term against Republican challenger Annetta Catchings. Wilson had 29,861 votes while Catchings had 14,745 with 31 of 33 precincts reporting. Wilson had defeated former Mayor Allison Silberberg in the primary, a repeat of his 2018 victory in the primary against then-incumbent Silberberg.

Wilson declared victory in the mayoral race, sharing a statement with followers on social media.

In the House of Delegates 45th District, Democratic candidate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker declared victory over Republican Justin D. "J.D." Maddox. In City of Alexandria precincts, Bennett-Parker received 19,938 votes and Maddox received 7,623 votes. Bennett-Parker had defeated incumbent Del. Mark Levine in the primary.

Democratic candidates led City Council races with 31 of 33 precincts reporting: incumbent Amy B. Jackson (27,068 votes), Alyia Smith-Parker Gaskins (26,245 votes), incumbent John Taylor Chapman (25,733 votes), Sarah R. Bagley (25,625 votes) incumbent Canek Aguirre (22,503 votes) and R. Kirk McPike (21,252 votes). The other candidates are Republican Darryl D. Nirenberg (17,320 votes), independent Florence M. King (10,001 votes), and independent Glenda Gail Parker (8,212 votes). Once all votes are counted, the top City Council candidate will become the next vice mayor.

Alexandria City Council will gain three new members as Councilmember Del Pepper is retiring, Councilmember Mo Seifeldein isn't seeking re-election, and Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker ran for the House of Delegates. At-large City Council members will be elected to a three-year term starting in 2022.

The Alexandria School Board could also have a new look, as one of three District A members didn't seeking reelection, no members of District B sought reelection, and two members of District C did not seek reelection. The top three candidates in each of School Board Districts A, B and C will be elected. School Board races have not yet been called.

In District A, leading candidates are Michelle M. Rief (9,638 votes), Jacinta E. Greene (9,551 votes) and Willie F. Bailey Sr. (7,866 votes) with 13 of 15 precincts reporting. The other candidates are Deanna M. R. "D" Ohlandt and A. M. "Ish" Boyle.

In District B, leading candidates are Ashley E. Simpson Baird (6,566 votes), Tammy S. Ignacio (5,820 votes), and Kelly Carmichael Booz (5,783 votes) with 11 of 13 precincts reporting. The other candidates are Bridget Shea Westfall, Deborah J. Ash, PreeAnn Johnson and Ricardo N. "Coach Rico" Roberts.

In District C, there are only three candidates running for three seats. The candidates are Abdel S. Elnoubi (6,164 votes), Meagan L. Alderton (6,149 votes) and W. Christopher Harris (5,783 votes) with nine of 11 precincts reporting.

School Board members will be elected to a three-year term starting in 2022.

In the other local races, Sheriff candidate Sean Casey and Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter are unopposed. Casey received 36,626 votes and Porter received 36,335 votes with 31 of 33 precincts reporting.

The Associated Press and several other media outlets have called the gubernatorial race for Republican Glenn A. Youngkin. Media outlets have called the lieutenant governor's race for Republican Winsome Sears and attorney general race for Republican Jason Miyares. With 31 of 33 Alexandria precincts reporting, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry R. McAuliffe received 36,226 votes, Republican Glenn A. Youngkin received 12,729 votes, and Liberation Party candidate Princess L. Blanding received 294 votes. In the lieutenant governor race, Democratic nominee Hala S. Ayala received 36,314 votes in Alexandria and Republican Winsome E. Sears received 12,448 votes. Democratic Attorney General Mark R. Herring received 36,359 votes in Alexandria and Republican Jason S. Miyares received 12,390 votes.

Tuesday's election was preceded by an influx of early voting. But Councilman John Taylor Chapman was wary of how Tuesday's rainy weather might deter some groups of voters, particularly seniors who vote Democrat. He said his campaign would knock on doors to encourage people to vote. While he has been on City Council for three terms with all Democrats, he doesn't assume Democrats will automatically win every election cycle.

"For me personally...it's a test case of whether or not people are still interested in Democratic leadership," Chapman told Patch.

Mario Velasquez, the Alexandria Democrats precinct captain for the City Hall precinct, noted turnout had been steady with 555 ballots cast around 3 p.m. He also acknowledged the significant early voting because the state made it easier to vote early. That precinct alone had 1,252 absentee ballots returned as of Nov. 1.

While the city has ongoing work on issues like improving infrastructure and school capacity, Chapman plans to have numerous other focuses in 2022 if re-elected. A few of those will be small business recovery, historic preservation, flooding mitigation and continued work to remediate combined sewer outfalls, school safety, and getting students "back on schedule" after the return to in-person learning.

Velasquez sees the general election as important to both sides of the political spectrum. He's observed Republican voters who may have revived enthusiasm in the post-Trump era. For Democrats, it's protecting progress on issues like infrastructure, climate change, jobs and more. He also agreed that even if Democrats maintain control in Alexandria, the city's priorities would be impacted by a change in party control on the state level.

"To us, it means we want to keep the gains that we've seen in Northern Virginia," said Velasquez.

As of 4 p.m., voter turnout was 51.26 percent including absentee ballots returned as of Nov. 1. Total voter turnout for the last gubernatorial election in 2017 was 57.86 percent in Alexandria.

We will update this story as results come in. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results.