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Clean Sweep: Democrats Win It All in Arlingtonby KRISTEN ARMSTRONG and SCOTT McCAFFREY, Staff Writers |
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| Arlington voters on Tuesday
stuck with county Democrats as their party of choice, electing Mary
Hynes and re-electing Walter Tejada to the County Board and rewarding
current County Board Chairman Paul Ferguson by electing him Clerk of the
Circuit Court. And, with a Democrat succeeding a Republican-leaning independent on the School Board, all 21 elected offices (five County Board posts, five School Board seats, five constitutional offices and six legislative positions) will now be held by Democrats. In the County Board race, Tejada led the five-candidate field with 17,900 votes, in unofficial results that did not include absentee ballots. Hynes placed second with 17,327, followed by Republicans Mike McMenamin (10,885) and Joseph Warren (6,112) and Green Party candidate Josh Ruebner (3,103). “It was ‘Campaigning 101' - we tried to cover all the bases,” said Tejada, who was first elected in a special election in the spring of 2003 and won a full term later that year. “We walked neighborhoods, knocking door to door. I will never take the complacency track.” “It's the best [campaign] I've had yet,” said Hynes, who won three School Board races before retiring from the post earlier this year. The voters, she said, “were looking for experience and leadership.” For McMenamin, this year's voting marked the second time he has been mowed down by the Democratic political machine, but the Republican said he had succeeded in at least one sense. “The Democrats [this year] were all running on the issues I was running on last year,” McMenamin said. Asked if there was a third run in his future, McMenamin said: “We're going to have to take a look at it.” Ruebner also was making his second bid for office, and said he saw some positives out of this run. “A lot of people at the polls were saying they agree with me - it was very positive,” he said. “I think people came to the polls to vote on Arlington's overdevelopment, the gentrification we're going through, and environmental issues.” Ruebner also was noncommittal on his future political plans. “We'll take it one day at a time,” he said. Warren, a newcomer to county politics, focused his campaign on transportation issues. Given Democratic strength in Arlington, perhaps the only question in the County Board race was whether incumbent Tejada or newcomer Hynes would take the most votes. A 12-year veteran of the School Board, Hynes was recruited to run for the position last winter, and did not face an intra-party challenge. In the closely watched race for Clerk of the Circuit Court, current County Board Chairman Paul Ferguson, a Democrat, easily outdistanced Republican Mark Kelly. Ferguson won about 70 percent of the vote in Arlington; the clerk's post serves both Arlington and Falls Church. State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-31st, and Dels. David Englin, D-45th, and Adam Ebbin, D-49th, easily retained their seats. Many of the candidates before the voters on Tuesday had no opposition: * Democrat Abby Raphael was elected to the School Board. She will succeed Republican-leaning independent Dave Foster, who is retiring after two terms. * State Sen. Patsy Ticer, D-30th, won another term. Ticer represents parts of South Arlington, although her district's heart is in Alexandria. She is a Democrat. * Dels. Al Eisenberg, D-47th, and Bob Brink, D-48th, were re-elected to new terms. Both are Democrats. * Treasurer Frank O'Leary, Commissioner of Revenue Ingrid Morroy and Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Trodden all garnered new terms without opposition. All are Democrats. All positions on the ballot in Arlington Tuesday were for four-year terms, with two exceptions: the House of Delegates seats are for two years, and the Clerk of the Circuit Court seat is for eight years. With the exception of rain in the early-morning hours, the weather was clear for voters. |
 County Board Vice Chairman Walter Tejada won a new term, and fellow Democrat Mary Hynes was elected to her first term, in Tuesday's race. (Photo by Kristen Armstrong) |