With the 2023 Virginia Primaries in the rear-view, it is time to take a look at how the off-year election results impacted your Realtor® supported candidates across Northern Virginia.
This year represents an historic shift in the Virginia General Assembly. In a movement that began with non-partisan redistricting (which did not take into account the home addresses of incumbent legislators) and has continued through upsets by primary challengers, the 140 member Virginia General Assembly will see a staggering amount of turnover in 2024 with the departure of 42 legislators and 649 years of combined service. And this number can certainly grow depending on the results of the November elections.
Here in Northern Virginia two stalwart Realtor® Champions in the Senate were defeated by challengers in the June Democratic Primary Elections. Both George Barker and Chap Petersen have long been supporters of our Realtor® agenda. As we move forward over the summer we will begin interviewing and developing relationships with the new Democratic candidates in the hopes of working closely with them in the future.
Similarly several Realtor® Party supported candidates won in Arlington and Fairfax County elections and will be joined on the November ballot by additional candidates whom we hope to work with and support in the future.
For more information, check out the articles below:
Saddam Salim’s defeats long-time State Senator Chap Peterson in the 37th District VA Senate Race. Peterson concedes in a letter to his supporters.
Historically, Northern Virginia democrats voted for candidates who were older and white. This pattern changed as Saddam Azlan Salim beat the long-time lawmaker Chap Peterson. Salim is a progressive Senator from Bangladesh.
County School Board member Stella Pekarsky defeated Sen. George Barker. Pekarsky had received 52.2% of the vote and was leading Barker by about 600 votes out of more than 14,000 cast, according to preliminary results from the Virginia Department of Elections.
Residents of Northern Virginia hit the polls in the recent Primary Election. Winners are bolded and marked with * in the article above. Races that do not have a name bolded have not yet been called.
Several Democratic veterans are leaving the state legislature at the end of the year. These veterans are taking a lot of Northern Virginia’s political influence with them. Republicans control the House of Delegates.
Residents of Arlington County received the results from the recent primary election. Maureen Coffey and Susan R. Cunningham are the winners of the Democratic primary for two open seats on the Arlington County Board.
NVAR RPAC Endorsed Candidates in the June 20 Primary:
House District 2 – Adele McClure (90%) defeated Kevin Saucedo-Broach (10%)
Senate District 35 – Dave Marsden (63%) defeated challenger Heidi Drauschak (37%)
Senate District 36 – George Barker (48%) lost to challenger Stella Pekarsky (52%)
Senate District 37 – Chap Petersen (46%) lost to challenger Saddam Salim (54%)
Senate District 40 – Barbara Favola (84%) defeated challenger James Devita (16%)
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
Chairman of the Board – Jeff McKay (56%) defeated challenger Lisa Downing (44%)
Dranesville District – Jimmy Bierman (70%) defeated David Fiske (30%)
Mount Vernon District – Dan Storck (69%) defeated challenger Maritza Zermeno (31%)
Arlington County Board (2 seats available, elected via “ranked choice” voting)
Maureen Coffey (40%) is joined by Susan Cunningham (60%) as the top two candidates in the ranked choice voting process.