Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and the new City Council were sworn into office on Thursday (Jan. 2), ushering in a new era of city governance with the new year.
Gaskins is the first Black woman to be elected mayor of the city. She stood alongside her husband and two children and took the oath of office from Clerk of the Court Greg Parks onstage at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center (4915 E. Campus Drive) at Northern Virginia Community College’s Alexandria campus.
While thousands of mailed absentee ballots remain uncounted, Alexandria Democrats declared victory on election night.
Mayor-elect Alyia Gaskins said that when the provisional and mail-in absentee votes are tallied that the city’s Democratic candidates will make up the seven-person City Council.
Alexandria School Board members sternly responded to recent criticism leveled at the Board and school system staff.
Without singling out the offending School Board member by name, Board Chair Michelle Rief, Vice Chair Kelly Carmichael Booz and Member Christopher Harris on Thursday night admonished Board Member Abdel Elnoubi for his comments at a City Council candidate debate on Oct. 16.
The conduct and power of the Alexandria School Board was criticized by multiple City Council candidates on Wednesday night.
The hour-and-a-half-long debate was moderated by Washington Post reporter Teo Armus and hosted by the Potomac Yard and Taylor Run Civic Associations.
There’s 138 days until the Nov. 5 election, and there are just enough candidates running for an uncontested School Board election.
There are two vacancies in this election cycle after School Board Members Abdel Elnoubi and Jacinta Greene won their Democratic nominations for City Council on June 18. Additionally, two Board Members are not running for reelection, former Board Chair Meagan Alderton in District C, and Tammy Ignacio in District B.
With the June 18 primary for Alexandria mayor and City Council around the corner, candidates have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for what is anticipated to be a low-turnout election.
The only seats in contention for the Democrat primaries are Mayor and City Council, and there is also a single candidate running for Council in a Republican primary.
Alexandria’s controversial zoning overhaul punctuated the final Democrat City Council candidate forum before the June 18 primary.
Anti-Potomac Yard arena candidate Jonathan Huskey didn’t mince words on his opinions against citywide Zoning for Housing/Housing for All overhaul that eliminated single family zoning and allows developers to build homes with up to four units on any property.
Alexandria City Council Member Alyia Gaskins has more than doubled the campaign contributions raised by her opponent Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and triple the amount raised by former real estate developer Steven Peterson.
As of March 31, Gaskins raised $149,107 with $69,425 on-hand. Jackson has raised $59,984 and has $22,682 on-hand, while Peterson has raised $44,700 with $14,019 on-hand.
Alexandria mayoral candidate Alyia Gaskins won the Alexandria Democratic Committee’s Straw Poll on Sunday night.
Gasksins defeated Vice Mayor Amy Jackson 117 votes to 23 votes, or 81% to Jackson’s 16%. A third mayoral candidate, Steven Peterson, did not show up for the event, and received 4 votes (3%).
The political season is officially underway in Alexandria, as the three Democrat candidates for mayor will face off in their first forum on Wednesday. There are also a number of forums and meet-and-greets scheduled for the 11 Democrat City Council candidates and lone Republican candidate.
The Democratic and Republican primaries for City Council are on June 18.
With Thursday’s filing deadline, Alexandria’s slate of mayoral and City Council candidates is officially set.
Here’s who’s running for office in the June 18 primary, according to the city’s Office of Voter Registration & Elections.
