The redistricting amendment passed in Virginia Tuesday will allow Democrats to pursue redrawn congressional district maps for the 2026 midterm elections.
The Associated Press called the race in favor of the redistricting amendment’s passage at 8:49 p.m. Tuesday. According to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections, more than 1.5 million votes (51.45%) supported the amendment and more than 1.4 million (48.6%) opposed.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On April 22, 1890, the Alexandria Brick Company opened a new brick kiln off South Washington Street, in the area where the street ended at Hunting Creek, before the construction of the George Washington Memorial Parkway extended the roadway southward in the early 1930’s. Excavation for clay to make bricks took place on land that is now the Hunting Point apartment complex, and on property adjacent to the Freedmen’s Cemetery. Within two years, on March 29, 1892, an article in the Washington Post commented that the excavations within the brickyard had undermined the cemetery grounds to the point that coffins were sticking out of a hillside ‘like cannon from the embrasures of some great fort.’ … This newspaper article led Alexandria Historian T. Michael Miller to discover the existence of the long-forgotten burial place for African American Contrabands and Freedmen, and to the subsequent memorial that opened on the site in 2015.” [Historic Alexandria]
Duke Street Land Use Meeting Today — “Please join us for the Duke Street Land Use Plan Community Meeting #5 on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. online via Zoom. The meeting will introduce the draft framework elements of the future Plan, including proposed Building Heights, Land Use, the Mobility Network, and the Open Space Network.” [City of Alexandria]
Democrat Sandy Marks has claimed victory in the special election for City Council Tuesday, and Alexandrians overwhelmingly voted yes on the redistricting constitutional amendment.
According to unofficial election results, Marks leads with 53.37% of votes over independent candidates Frank Fannon (29.41%) and Alison O’Connell (15.02%), 32 precincts reporting vote tallies. There have been 51,256 ballots cast out of 116,366 registered voters, representing 44% turnout.
Good Tuesday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Apr 21, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms before 1 pm, with showers continuing until 2 pm, and isolated thunderstorms after 2 pm. It’s partly sunny with a high near 74°F, and winds will shift from southwest to west at around 8 mph. The precipitation chance is 50%. Wednesday night brings scattered showers and thunderstorms before 8 pm, turning mostly clear with a low of about 55°F. Winds will be from the northwest at 5 mph, becoming light and variable, with a 30% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
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More than 42% of registered Alexandria voters have headed to the polls to vote on today’s congressional redistricting referendum and a special election for an open seat on Alexandria City Council.
As of 4 p.m., 19,183 voters cast in-person ballots across the city, in addition to 22,836 mail-in and in-person early ballots, adding up to 42,019 total ballots cast, according to figures released by Angie Maniglia Turner, the city’s general registrar and elections director. Turner said she is expecting gubernatorial-level turnout on the decision to amend Virginia’s Constitution to allow the General Assembly to temporarily redraw congressional maps for the upcoming election and resume the normal redistricting process after the 2030 U.S. Census.
Criticism has been leveled against the Alexandria Library Board after Libby Bawcombe, a voting member, was expelled earlier this month for supporting a study on converting the library system into a city department.
At a special meeting of the Alexandria Library Company on April 8, Bawcombe was expelled by a secret ballot for voting with three other Library Board members in February to direct Alexandria Library Director Rose Dawson to work with city staff on assessing the library system’s transition into a city department.
On Saturday (April 18), Alexandria City Council approved an office-to-residential conversion that will bring 32 four-story townhomes to Old Town.
Without discussion, City Council unanimously approved the Planning Commission’s recommendation to tear down the Essex Building — an office building at 333 N. Fairfax Street built in the 1970s — and replace it with townhomes. A parking garage and lot will also be demolished. Plans for the 1.4-acre site from EYA and Simpson Development reveal four-story homes with two-car garages and roof decks just a few blocks from King Street and the Potomac River waterfront.
A pedestrian was killed in a crash in Old Town North yesterday (Monday), according to Alexandria police and fire radio dispatches.
The Alexandria Police Department responded to the fatal crash involving a pedestrian at St. Asaph and Montgomery Streets around 5:26 p.m. According to radio dispatches, multiple callers reported that the pedestrian was down and not breathing.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On April 21, 1893, Alexandrians were saddened to learn of the death the evening before of George Carroll, a well-known and affable African American who had served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Before the war, Carroll had served as a slave in the home of Josiah H. Davis and as a boy, had worked at the old plaster mill on the waterfront between Prince and Duke Streets … Carroll was a member of Alexandria’s Sumner Post, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization of nearly 400,000 Union Army veterans by 1890, which advocated for pensions for veterans, voting rights for black veterans and advancement of advocacy groups in American politics.” [Historic Alexandria]
It’s Election Day — Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the Alexandria City Council special election and statewide redistricting amendment. [Office of Voter Registration and Elections]
Good Monday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Apr 20, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Expect widespread frost before 10 am, followed by sunny weather with a high near 62°F. Winds will be calm, shifting to the south at about 6 mph in the afternoon. On Tuesday night, there is a 30% chance of showers after 2 am, with partly cloudy skies and a low around 50°F. South winds will increase to 7 to 9 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
– J.K. Rowling
Thanks for reading!
Alexandria Sheriff Sean Casey and members of his staff argued against a proposed budget reallocation before City Council on Saturday (April 18).
Casey said a proposal by Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and City Councilman Abdel Elnoubi to transfer $200,000 out of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office budget for a jail operational efficiency study is a waste of valuable resources and will hurt an already cash-strapped agency. While a number of speakers at Saturday’s public hearing called for Casey’s budget to be cut over what they see as voluntary collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement, several City Council members defended the proposed study, saying the measure is intended to improve ASO operations.
