See below for video from tonight’s Arlington County Democratic Committee (ACDC) meeting, with a packed house (couple hundred people?) candidate announcements by: 1) for SD31, Nicole Merlene; 2) for Commonwealth’s Attorney, Parisa Tafti (introduced by Kip Malinosky) and incumbent Theo Stamos; 3) for Arlington County Treasurer, incumbent Carla de la Pava; and 4) for Arlington County School Board, incumbent Reid Goldstein.
First, Nicole Merlene announced for State Senate District 31 against incumbent Sen. Barbara Favola, who was in Richmond tonight for the Virginia General Assembly session and Gov. Northam’s State of the Commonwealth Address. What I’m looking to hear, going forward, from Merlene is: a) specifically what she wants to do in the State Senate that’s different than what Sen. Favola has been doing; b) specific critiques of Favola’s record; c) a strong, well-formulated, persuasive case for herself. I heard bits and pieces tonight, but as time goes by, I’ll definitely want to hear that case fleshed out…
Next, Parisa Tafti introduced herself and laid out her critiques of incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos, similar to the case that she and Del. Jennifer Carroll-Foy made Monday night at Tafti’s kickoff.
For her part, Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos argued for her record and responded to some of the critiques against her (e.g., her endorsement of Republican-turned-Independent John Vihstadt for County Board over the Democratic nominees). This is really going to be an interesting campaign!
Carla de la Pava announced for reelections as Arlington County Treasurer. We’ll see if she draws an opponent, particularly given her endorsement of John Vihstadt…
Reid Goldstein announced for reelection to the Arlington County Public School Board. I’m not aware of any opponent(s) to Goldstein as of yet, but we’ll see… plenty of time before the filing deadline.
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