Alexandria voters reelected Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter, Sheriff Sean Casey and three House of Delegates members in resounding victories.
Running without opposition, Porter and Casey each received 96% of votes. Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3), Del. Charniele L. Herring (D-4) and Del. Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker (D-5) also held onto their statehouse seats.
Looking to clear your criminal record? Some of Alexandria’s top legal minds will meet next month for a free expungement clinic in the city’s West End.
The clinic will be held at Patrick Henry Recreation Center (4653 Taney Avenue) on Oct. 18 (Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with volunteer pro bono attorneys, as well as Del Charniele Herring (D-4), Sheriff Sean Casey, Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter, Circuit Court Clerk Greg Parks, and Public Defender Megan Thomas.
Early voting for November’s general election starts on Friday, Sept. 19, across Virginia. Here’s what you need to know in Alexandria.
Early voting starts 45 days before election day, and the only contested elections voters can decide on in Alexandria are for the Virginia governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.
Welcome to Friday, Alexandria! Here’s our recap of the most-read stories.
Our top story this week is on two Alexandria business owners charged with possession of an illegal gambling device for operating skill games. The news marks the first indictments against Alexandria business owners for the devices. Dozens of skill game machines operate at multiple convenience and grocery stores in the West End and Arlandria neighborhoods, despite police hand-delivering warning letters to more than a dozen offending businesses. Skill games were outlawed as illegal gaming by the Virginia legislature in 2020, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter told ALXnow that his office is assessing “all potential investigative leads.”
An Alexandria man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a “high-level drugs conspiracy that shipped significant amounts of narcotics” into Virginia, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter.
Adrian Bryce Roberts, 41, was sentenced to 12 years of active incarceration on July 28 after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, and transporting more than an ounce of narcotics into the state, according to Porter’s office.
A 26-year-old Washington, D.C. man has pleaded guilty to felony charges related to the attempted abduction and rape of a woman in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood.
Dykwon Perry Davis pleaded guilty in Alexandria Circuit Court on August 7, 2025, to abduction with the intent to defile and attempted rape for the incident, which occurred on February 3, 2024. He faces up to life in prison for the abduction charge, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the rape charge, according to a press release from Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter.
Alexandria leaders railed against the Trump administration at Alexandria’s Market Square on Saturday, just across the Potomac River from the military parade celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, which also coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
Alexandria’s No Kings Rally was attended by thousands. The rally also comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is reportedly preparing to deploy tactical units to Northern Virginia and four major cities across the country.
Northern Virginia is reportedly among the “five cities run by Democratic leaders” that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to deploy tactical units to, according to MSNBC.
Citing two unnamed sources “familiar with the planning of future ICE operations,” MSNBC reported that ICE is preparing to deploy tactical response teams in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Northern Virginia.
Alexandria leaders will participate in an anti-Trump protest in front of City Hall at Market Square (301 King Street) on Saturday.
Confirmed speakers at the event, which runs from 3 to 5 p.m., include U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8), Virginia House majority leader Charniele Herring (D-4), Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-39), and Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter. Mayor Alyia Gaskins is tentatively scheduled to speak.
Alexandria’s Commonwealth Attorney Bryan Porter isn’t facing opposition this November.
In fact, Porter has never faced opposition in any of his elections. He took office in 2014 and spent his first two years consumed with the prosecution of Alexandria serial killer Charles Severance. Porter later wrote a book about the experience.
A recent ruling in Hanover County dismissing a case against a skill games operator has put the anti-gambling effort into a tailspin in Alexandria.
General District Court Judge Hugh Campbell dismissed a case against a convenience store owner in Hanover County and found that new QVS2 (Queen of Virginia) machines by Pace-O-Matic that are unlocked when customers give clerks cash are not illegal gambling devices. The ruling has sent Alexandria’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter and his staff back to the drawing board.
