After failing to secure 50% of votes from members, the top two candidates running for president of the Alexandria teachers union are headed to a runoff.
The election was overseen by the Virginia Education Association after it invalidated the results of the Education Association of Alexandria’s officer elections in May. Votes for union officers and building representatives were collected online on June 29 and 30. EAA presidential candidate David Paladin-Fernandez got 190 votes (47%), followed by 115 votes (29%) for Christina Bohringer and 96 votes for Madeline Wingate Alfonso (24%).
Steve Whitten and Stephanie Lovelace, the co-chairs of VEA’s Election and Campaign Practices Committee, sent the results to EAA members in an email. The runoff election will be held on July 20 and 21.
“While the majority of officer positions have been decided, no candidate for President received the number of votes required to be elected,” Whitten and Lovelace wrote. “Therefore, in accordance with the EAA governing documents and applicable bylaws, a runoff election will be conducted between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for President.”
Tyron Barnes won the vice presidential race with 250 votes (63%) against Eric Payne with 147 votes (37%) and Howard Vandersluis won the treasurer’s race with 244 votes (62%) against Diana Carvajal with 150 votes (38%).
Outgoing EAA President Dawn Lucas was also the only candidate running as EAA board secretary, although Whitten and Lovelace said that confirmation of her position is pending.
Why EAA elections were invalidated
EAA members were informed via email on Sunday, May 17, that the union elections would be postponed from May 18 to May 21. Less than 12 hours before polls opened, Paladin-Fernandez was informed of his disqualification in a Zoom meeting with other candidates.
Andrea Hill, chair of the EAA Credentials/Election Committee, led the meeting, and said the union’s executive committee voted to disqualify Paladin-Fernandez for alleged campaign violations. She said the executive committee believed there was not enough time to go through a democratic process to allow Paladin-Fernandez to defend himself, according to audio obtained by ALXnow.
VEA then invalidated the results to EAA’s May elections to ensure its Alexandria affiliate “complied with the legal requirements established under the federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.”
Paladin-Fernandez ran on a slate with Barnes and Vandersluis as part of their group, Responsive Union Now.
The union operates out of a small office it rents at 2857 Duke Street and recently negotiated a one-year, $12.7 million collective bargaining agreement for ACPS staff.
