The battle over Judy Lowe Park’s closure exposed a divide between vice presidential candidate JD Vance and many of his more liberal neighbors, but Vance isn’t the first Trump affiliated person to live in the Del Ray neighborhood.
At an event today (Thursday) for Republicans speaking out against former President Donald Trump, Olivia Troye, former top aide to Mike Pence, spoke to ALXnow about her experience living in the liberal enclave while working in the Trump administration.
“I definitely was recognized when I was in the Trump administration,” Troye said. “For the most part, people were respectful. There was concern when I moved in on my block because they’d seen some of the very extreme things happening. I was also on the Covid task force and I think the community endured a lot in that time as well.”
Alexandria is predominately Democratic. In the 2020 election, 80% of Alexandria votes in the presidential race went to the Democratic ticket. The streets around Del Ray are lined with political signs, nearly all of them supporting the Harris/Walz ticket and some of them running afoul of local sign ordinances.
Troye said her neighbors knew she was a Republican, but their relationship evolved over the years as she became more vocal against Trump, even going so far as to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
“They know I’m a Republican and that’s okay,” Troye said. “They know that we have differences, but they know I am standing firmly against extremism in the Republican Party right now.”
Troye also said, when push came to shove, even neighbors she politically disagreed with supported her against threats of violence.
“Now, quite honestly, I’m very grateful that I live in Alexandria,” Troye said. “I get a lot of death threats and a lot of anger and hate. I get people showing up at my house and the community has been very protective and supportive of me. From that angle, I’ve been very grateful that they’ve taken me in and welcomed me.”
When it comes to the closure of Judy Lowe park, Troye said she understands both community frustration and the security precautions.
“I hear a lot of things about [the Judy Lowe park closing],” Troye said. “I understand there are security precautions and I understand the anger and frustration of that dynamic in your neighborhood, it’s certainly disruptive.”
In terms of neighborhood cohesion, Troye said she and other Del Ray residents have to find the balance between respecting JD Vance as a neighbor and speaking out against his politics.
“JD Vance is our neighbor,” Troye said. “I think it’s important to respect that. It doesn’t mean you can’t use your voice to stand against it and also the extremism and the things he’s espousing are not okay. Some of the things he’s said have driven hate and threats in other communities, like Springfield, Ohio. There’s no room for that; that shouldn’t be the Republican Party.”
