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.
An opening date is on the horizon for a queer-owned, family-oriented café hoping to establish itself near Alexandria.
Friends of Dorothy Cafe founder Dorothy Edwards has raised about $25,000 for the café’s creation since launching a crowdfunding campaign last June. As the campaign’s first anniversary and Pride Month approach this June, Edwards told ALXnow the new business is aiming to open sometime next year.
Luxury living has arrived in Old Town Alexandria.
Welcome to The Aidan, a brand-new condo community designed for those who want to stay connected to everything they love. Enjoy rooftop views, a vibrant courtyard terrace, fitness center, coffee bar, pet spa, stylish resident lounges, and dedicated work-from-home spaces—all just two blocks from Braddock Road Metro.
With more than 200 shops, restaurants, and waterfront destinations just steps away, The Aidan puts the best of Old Town right outside your door.
Elevate your lifestyle at The Aidan.
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.
Launching July 13 at Revolutionary Fitness, Old Town Alexandria
If you’re over 50 and you’ve ever finished a diet feeling worse about yourself than when you started, this is for you.
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
Thanks for reading!
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.
Alexandrians are being encouraged to open their pocketbooks and find a cause to support as Spring2ACTion’s main fundraising day arrives tomorrow (Wednesday).
The 16th annual Spring2ACTion aims to raise $2.5 million through at least 10,000 donors, according to organizing nonprofit ACT for Alexandria. Brandi Yee, chief program officer at ACT for Alexandria, told ALXnow that $640,000 had been raised through early giving as of Monday evening.
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.
