Elizabeth Bennett-Parker | ALXnow

Morning Notes

Published October 18, 2021 at 5:00AM

Leaves along the sidewalk in Old Town (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Metro running at 40% today — “As part of the investigation into the Blue Line derailment, Metro is holding out of service all of its 7000-series railcars, which is about 60% of its rail fleet. Without these rail cars, Metro will operate about 40 trains tomorrow.” [Metro]

Alexandria’s Communications Director Appointed To New Position With Governor’s Office — “The city’s longtime Director of Communications and Public Information, Craig Fifer, has been appointed to a new position. He has been selected by Gov. Northam to serve as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Commonwealth of Virginia, effective Oct. 25.” [Zebra]

News

Del. Mark Levine raises eyebrows with letter that passes buck on constituent service

By James Cullum

Published July 9, 2021 at 10:45AM

Delegate Mark Levine says a recent letter to a constituent has been taken out of context, and that his office is still helping 45th District residents deal with unemployment and other issues with state agencies.

In the June letter, Levine apologized to a constituent and said his recent election loss limited his ability to help with issues related to the Virginia Employment Commission.

News

After dual election losses, Mark Levine says he’s deciding his next move

By James Cullum

Published June 22, 2021 at 10:45AM | Updated June 24, 2021 at 4:17PM

Delegate Mark Levine isn’t out of the politics game yet, but he’s keeping his cards close and still hasn’t made up his mind about next moves.

It’s been weeks since Levine lost the Democratic nomination for both seats he sought in the June 8 primary, as Del. Hala Ayala won the lieutenant governor’s primary race and Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker won the nomination for his Delegate seat for the 45th District.

News

Here’s how Alexandria is planning on spending its American Rescue Plan Act funding

By James Cullum

Published June 10, 2021 at 2:40PM | Updated June 10, 2021 at 3:08PM

Alexandria is planning on spending a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act funding on supporting a childcare wellness program, commercial business districts around the city, flooding mitigation and hiring bilingual city staffers to help residents facing eviction.

Those are just four of nine prioritized recommendations that the Alexandria City Council received Wednesday night on how to spend its first tranche of funding. After getting more than 1,300 recommendations from the community, spending has been categorized into tiers, with projects scored by staff. The Tier 1 and 2 projects would be handled with the first allocation, followed by the Tiers 3 and 4 with the second.

Opinion

Poll: Did you vote in Alexandria’s Democratic primary?

By Vernon Miles

Published June 9, 2021 at 4:45PM

Elizabeth Bennett-Parker casts her vote on primary day, June 8, 2021, at Matthew Maury Elementary School. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Months of campaigning came to a head last night as Mayor Justin Wilson and three City Council incumbents held onto their seats despite opposition and the three new members of the City Council were among those most closely aligned with the incumbents.

The city also had relatively high levels of voter turnout for a non-Presidential election year, with 23% of registered voters showing up to the polls.

News

BREAKING: Bennett-Parker declares victory in 45th District race, Levine loses Delegate and Lieutenant Governor races

By James Cullum

Published June 8, 2021 at 8:55PM

Elizabeth Bennett-Parker casts her vote on primary day, June 8, 2021, at Matthew Maury Elementary School. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker prevailed in her quest Tuesday night for the Democratic nomination for Virginia’s 45th District, defeating incumbent Del. Mark Levine, who as of this writing was also down in his race for lieutenant governor.

“I’m honored to be the Democratic nominee for the 45th District,” Bennett-Parker said in a statement. “Thank you for your votes; I look forward to working with all of the Democratic nominees to win in November, and to representing all of HD-45 in Richmond.”

News

ALXnow’s top stories of the week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published June 4, 2021 at 3:30PM | Updated June 7, 2021 at 12:09PM

President Biden delivering remarks at Sportrock Climbing Center in Alexandria (via White House/Twitter)

What a week in Alexandria. Here’s the rundown.

Our top story was on President Joe Biden stopping by the Sportrock Climbing Center in Alexandria last Friday with First Lady Jill Biden and Governor Ralph Northam.

News

Bennett-Parker says Levine mailer on Commonwealth of Virginia letterhead is ethics breach

By James Cullum

Published June 1, 2021 at 1:00PM | Updated June 4, 2021 at 9:55PM

An annual mailer from Del. Mark Levine to Democratic voters in the 45th District has his opponent, Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, raising concerns of an ethical breach of conduct.

Levine is running for lieutenant governor and his seat in the 45th District. The 17-page annual update is written on Commonwealth of Virginia letterhead, and asks for support in the upcoming June 8 Democratic primary. The letter also includes his campaign websites markfordelegate.com and levineforvirginia.com, but not a disclaimer stating that it was paid for by his campaign.

News

Similar on policies, Bennett-Parker and Levine differ on style in 45th District debate

By James Cullum

Published May 11, 2021 at 3:40PM | Updated May 11, 2021 at 4:50PM

At a debate Monday night, Delegate Mark Levine couldn’t think of any policy differences between his opponent, Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker.

“I’m not sure there are any,” Levine told Alexandria and Arlington Democrats in a Zoom debate.

News

Incumbent delegate and Alexandria vice mayor square off in unique 45th District race

By Vernon Miles

Published April 28, 2021 at 3:30PM

The race for the 45th District House of Delegates seat is a weird one.

Delegate Mark Levine announced in December that he would be running for Lieutenant Governor. A month later, Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker announced that she would be running for Levine’s delegate seat. The wrinkle in all of this, however, is that Levine is also running for reelection in the 45th district as a precaution in case he doesn’t win the fairly crowded Lieutenant Governor primary.

News

Republican J.D. Maddox announces run for 45th District seat

By James Cullum

Published March 23, 2021 at 4:45PM

JD Maddox on Prince Street in Old Town. (Courtesy photo)

Justin David Maddox, a former CIA branch chief with a deep background in identifying and disseminating political propaganda, has announced his candidacy as a Republican for the 45th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“I am a counter-propaganda expert, and I hate lies,” Maddox told ALXnow. “What is driving me at a fundamental level is the concept that I can be a guy who brings truth to this organization (the General Assembly). I really want to do that.”