Sandy Marks, the former chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, was sworn in to City Council Tuesday night.
For the first time in the city’s history, Alexandria’s seven-member City Council now has a female majority, as Marks joins Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and Councilwoman Jacinta Greene. Marks won her seat on council in the April 21 special election for the seat vacated by former Councilman R. Kirk McPike, who won his own special election to fill the vacant 5th District seat in the House of Delegates.
Marks, only the 16th woman elected to serve on Council, was sworn in by Clerk of Court Greg Parks at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center (4850 Mark Center Drive). Afterward, she predicted the city will serve as an exemplar during turbulent times.
“We know that when women lead, people’s needs are met,” Marks said. “Children are educated, seniors are honored, communities are healthier and families are fed… The fiscal brutality and cruel social policy inflicted on our city and on everyone by the federal government will continue to test our strength, our creativity, our limits and our resolve. We know this. We’ve already felt it, but the struggle presents us with a choice. We can allow our rational fear and anxiety to turn us away from each other, or we can turn toward each other with intention.”
Marks, who served as chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee from 2021 to 2025, will serve out the remainder of McPike’s term, which expires in January 2028. The next Democratic primary for City Council will be held in June 2027.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins said the female majority on City Council represents something that many people thought impossible.
“We continue to be a community that is breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings,” Gaskins said. “As you look at your new council, you are looking at a team, a team that is ready to tackle anything, a team that refuses to be defeated, a team that knows that no matter what lies ahead, we represent the power of new ideas. We represent the power of optimism. We represent a joy that cannot be shaken no matter what else is happening around this world.”
