Alexandria voters resoundingly chose former Vice President Joe Biden as their Democratic nominee for president on Super Tuesday.
Biden took Virginia with 54.22% of the 1.3 million votes cast across the state, and also won half of the city’s votes, which nearly doubled in participation since the last presidential primary in 2016. Virginia is one of 14 states that participated in Tuesday’s primary contest.
Biden Wins Virginia — “Virginia voters have overwhelmingly given former Vice President Joe Biden a sizable win over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Tuesday’s primary election. According to unofficial state election returns, Biden has been called the winner of the state with 53.3 percent of what was a record primary turnout, and will capture the largest share of its 99 delegates.” [Patch, Washington Post]
City Holding Coronavirus Info Session — “The City of Alexandria, the Alexandria Health Department, Inova Health System, and the Alexandria City Public Schools will hold an online virtual information session on Thursday, March 12, from 8 to 9 p.m., to provide information and answer questions about the COVID-19 coronavirus. The session will be accessible at alexandriava.gov/Health.” [City of Alexandria, Alexandria Living]
Alexandrians are on pace to cast ballots in significantly greater numbers today than during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
Thousands of Alexandria residents have participated in the presidential primary day in Virginia, which joins 13 other states across the country in the race for the Democratic candidate to face off against President Donald Trump, in November.
Presidential Primary Day in Alexandria — Today is Super Tuesday, the presidential primary day in Virginia and 13 other states across the U.S. Here in Alexandria, polls are open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. [City of Alexandria]
New Development Near Braddock Road Metro — “CRC Cos. LLC is pitching a plan to redevelop several single-family homes across from the Braddock Road Metro station into a new mixed-use building. The Arlington-based real estate firm submitted plans to Alexandria officials last week for a seven-story, 177-unit building along North West Street, bounded by Madison Street and Wythe Street. The proposal also calls for a small space set aside for ground-floor retail.” [Washington Business Journal]
Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Alexandria Democratic Committee’s nearly annual straw poll on Sunday.
The event, which was attended by more than 100 people at Lost Boy Cider, is the first indicator of how Alexandria might turn out in the run up to Tuesday’s primary. Virginia is one of 15 states participating in Super Tuesday primary on March 3.
Schools Preparing for Coronavirus — “ACPS has partnered with the Alexandria City Health Department and local first responders to form a COVID-19 Task Force Planning Committee to work closely to monitor this evolving situation. We plan to provide updates as we progress with this planning and work.” [ACPS]
Reminder: Primary Day is Tomorrow — “On Tuesday, March 3, there will be a Democratic Party presidential primary election in the City of Alexandria. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.” [City of Alexandria]
School Board Approves New Budget — “The Alexandria City School Board has approved an Operating Budget for the 2020-21 school year focused on supporting students socially, emotionally and academically while also increasing graduation rates. The Operating Budget of $299.1 million is an increase of 4.4% on last year’s budget, in line with ACPS’ anticipated continued enrollment growth and needs.” [ACPS]
City Unveils New 311 System — “The City of Alexandria has launched a new customer service initiative called Alex311, to connect customers to more than 175 City services in a variety of convenient ways. The service includes new web, mobile app, social media and phone options to submit requests for service or information… Alex311 replaces the City’s previous Call.Click.Connect. service.” [City of Alexandria]
Boyd Walker has never done this before. On the night of Jan. 29, the Alexandria resident will travel nearly 1,000 miles with 18 others in a four car caravan from Alexandria to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to volunteer with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
“It’s fun. It’s an adventure. It’s a road trip with a bunch of people who share your values and goals,” Walker told ALXnow. “Whoever the candidate is, there should be tremendous enthusiasm, because Donald Trump is the most corrupt, dangerous president we’ve ever had and will be very damaging to our democracy and our planet if he spends another four years in office.”
It’s an early Christmas for Alexandria leadership, with Democrats taking control of the Virginia legislature opening the door for efforts to assert local control of several key policy questions.
Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means that localities like Alexandria can only exercise powers expressly granted by the state. In practice, Mayor Justin Wilson said this leaves localities forced to seek approval from the state for basic city policy questions, particularly on fiscal issues. Under a Republican majority, Alexandria struggled to have many of its legislative priorities addressed.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Virginia’s election on Tuesday (Nov. 5) could shape the future of the Commonwealth as Republicans fight to hold onto a slim majority in the state legislature.
But don’t expect to see those fireworks in Alexandria. In all but one of the five state Senate and House of Delegates races, the incumbents are running unopposed.
Voter Registration Deadline Today — “FYI: The deadline to register to vote in Virginia’s Nov 5 General Election is Oct 15.” [Twitter, City of Alexandria]
Alexandria’s Top Nats Fan Weighs In — Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted during last night’s Nationals win to pull to 3-0 in the NLDS series with the Cardinals: “This is exhilarating and so foreign to me… 27 more outs. #nats” [Twitter]
