Direct shot at Rob eh? "Any candidate who enters this race as a stepping stone to statewide office will be too concerned with how his votes, positions, and agenda will play with future voters elsewhere who don't share our community's progressive values.”

This is going to be an interesting race.

Personally, I like both Karen and Rob a lot. Either of them would make a great delegate to Richmond. The issue for me personally is bigger though...I'm thinking long term. In my own perfect world, Rob would take this seat and YES YES YES step to higher office someday...maybe after a couple of terms. I personally would LOVE to see Rob as Lt Gov or Gov someday. We need progressives who can get elected statewide, and I'd be happy to support Karen later if that were the case. But that's just me...I don't know what Rob or Karen have in mind and I speak for no one and nothing but my own selfish desire to be rid of McDonnell forever and to never see Cuccinelli hold office again...

I also don't discount some possible bitterness by David Englin who has perhaps not yet come to terms with the knowledge that his own ambitions are dead forever. No need to take that out on Rob. Karen is great, but the swipe at Rob was undeserved.

I'd like to hear more from Karen on her vision beyond equality issues. While I agree with her on that issue, there are a lot of things we need to be worked on in Richmond (education, first responder issues, economic development to name a few). I'm just afraid she is a one issue person and doesn't have the chops to deal with those other things. Withholding final judgement in the event that turns out to not be the case, waiting to hear more from all the candidates.

Being for gay rights isn't a differentiator for an Alexandria Democrat, and quite honestly I've never understood the disproportionate amount of time and emphasis David Englin has spent on the issue. Karen would have to do a lot to convince me she is qualified for the job -- I don't see that, whereas Rob Krupicka is eminently qualified.

I find the attack line that Rob would use the delegate position as a stepping stone to be hilarious coming from two people who just backed Sean Holihan, who openly admitted to the Washington Blade that he saw winning a City Council seat as just a pit stop en route to a bigger political career.

Is Shayna going to run Karen's campaign? If so, I feel sorry for her. Has Shayna even won a race in the last three campaigns? I think she's at least 0-3.

Yes, Shayna Englin is now 0-3 in her political 'consulting' career, which, hopefully, is now over too, so that she and David and their son, Caleb, can all go about rebuilding their lives as a family again. I highly endorse and support the effort of Karen Gautney to run for delegate, and to hold on to the seat as long as she wants to. Rob Krupicka, to me, is a very nice man, truly in love with his wife and daughters, which, I believe, where he should stay focused with, in his life. Karen, on the other hand, can be the second openly gay person in the Virginia General Assembly, along with our great State Senator, Adam Ebbin, and I feel that she can be a much stronger progressive Democrat, on many levels, plus, more women need to be represented in Richmond, anyways. I feel that with the right 'mojo' that Karen can build a strong coalition of progressives that can be a great support group for her to lean on as everyone works together to help her win in November.

There is no doubt that Karen Gautney is smart enough and totally capable of serving in the House of Delegates (half the members are bought, and the other half are too ineffective to find buyers). Her positions on the issues I imagine are dead-on and probably very congruent with Rob Krupicka's. This said, I am suffering from a serious bout of Englin fatigue. True, I do feel sorry for Shayna (and to a much lesser extent David), but it's pretty brazen for them to imply that Rob is using the position as a "stepping stone" for higher office, especially when David was keenly aware that his seat was a means to a future higher office. The odd thing is that Rob too shares some Englin "taint" as he was supported by the Englins in his bid for Senate. One can only imagine that there had to be some serious fissure for two people to strongly support a candidate for the more prestigious position of Senator, but not to support the same candidate for a lower House of Delegate position?? But then again, the Englins have made careers of doing what's most expedient for them.

If I were Karen, I'd quickly disclaim David's endorsement, thank David and Shayna for their public service, and wish them well in the future, where ever their travels take them. Our city will be better off, as will Karen's chances of winning a seat in Richmond, once the Englins and their posse leave town.

I am SICK AND TIRED of sexual orientation becoming the litmus test for election to the General Assembly inside the Beltway. David Englin became the local John Edwards. I don't trust anything about him, including his endorsements. Delegate Englin, please move away, and take Team Englin with you!

"Team Englin" was a political machine that attempted to track every constituents' every move. Except for David's, of course. No way I would ever vote for anyone he endorsed, especially someone with a background in criminal investigation.

I wholeheartedly agree with the thought that having an 'Englin endorsement', from either David, or Shayna, is truly the kiss of death, politically. The whole Englin schtick started going 'south' a while ago for most people in Alexandria, so the mere fact that he fooled around on Shayna and was man enough to take responsibility should give him bonus points as they both pack their political careers, 'goodbye', but good riddance, too. For David and Shayna, if it wasn't 'their way', it was the proverbial highway. Rob Krupicka can thank Shayna for screwing up his chances of winning a seat that seamed tailored for him to jump into. The mere fact that Adam Ebbin came through and won it all is more of a testament to the good ground game and support that he had, versus what Shayna was not able to enfuse into Rob's campaign, which was supposed to be a lock. The one person in all of this though, as a human being, that we all should be worried about, is Caleb, David and Shayna's son. It's sad that any child goes through a split between parents, but in his case, let's hope that they both completely patch things up, turn their lives around, go off in a different direction with the three of them all together, David, Shayna and Caleb. Back to Karen, though. Politically, in this area, Karen is probably more wired and networked for progressive grass roots issues, than Rob. Karen also doesn't have any of the political baggage that Rob has, which in the long term, will help her win this race.

'Team Englin' is going to morph into 'Team Gautney'. And she has a background in criminal investigation. When I called David asking what he was going to do about having Quaker Lane repaved 'Team Englin' responded by asking a laundry list of questions about ME. I've had too many experiences with gay men and lesbians in Fairlington who want to keep their personal lives personal while wanting to know everything about my personal life to vote for Karen Gautney. I'm voting for Rob.

I offer we hold a spelling bee between Rob and Karen. The candidate who spells dysfunction properly wins the election. Afterall, the people of the 45th District deserve a Delegate who knows how to spell. Meow ;)

Looks to me like she would focus on LGBT issues in Richmond and, unlike David, work to progressively criminalize heterosexuality.

Look everybody, we all now know what a train wreck 'Team Englin' has become. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Hopefully David and Shayna can move out of our political lives forever, for the true mess, deception and hatred that at least Shayna set forth among other Democrats in Alexandria and in the area is truly unconscionable. It was only a true matter of time before 'Team Englin' came crashing to the ground, anyways, with how they rubbed everyone wrong within the past twelve months, even more so. Shayna should take 'political consultant' off of her moniker due to the fact that she's now 0-3 in campaigns that have been absolute disasters. Shayna, Sean Holihan, Danny Barefoot, among others (I'll leave Gail Gordon out of this because she was the ONLY one from the PAC to attack a fellow Democrat, Boyd Walker, to publicly apologize) have helped to build the overall ill-will that many Democrats in Alexandria have about the leadership of the Alexandria Democratic Committee. Let me say that I believe that there are some members in the ADC who are good people who are led by a completely feckless group of political hacks who have demoralized and embarrassed we, as Democrats, in the City of Alexandria for way too long. Sure, you're reading this saying, 'Uh, oh, there he goes again,' but I can't say it enough, and there are many Democrats in Alexandria who share my sentiments. It's time for a new group of true Democrats to come forward to lead Alexandria in the future. Our time as come.

One thing I don't understand. Englin endorsed Krupicka last year, when Krupicka was seeking the state senate nomination. Now, Englin's endorsed Gautney, and taken a veiled shot at Krupicka. What happened? Did Krupicka have something to do with Englin's marital foibles coming to light?

Mr. Miller, Team Englin WAS the next generation of true Democrats that came forward to lead Alexandria. Why did I get personally vetted for asking that Quaker Lane be repaved? Seen Quaker Lane lately? I am NOT going to support anybody David tells me to support. Karen Gautney is another train wreck waiting to happen.

One thing is for sure, I'm supporting Andy MacDonald for Mayor.

Dennis, other than the last name of 'Miller', I don't know or have ever met Bud Miller. Couldn't spot him if I saw him walking down a sidewalk on King Street in Old Town. I have read his writings, here on Patch, and in other publications. I would venture to guess that Mr. Bud Miller is not a progressive liberal Democrat, as I am, but he does have some very good points to convey about many issues confronting Alexandrians.

JIm Miller - I'd like to meet you sometime. I'll be at the Wine Festival at the PTO tomorrow from about noon - 3 at the ADC table. My email and phone are on the ADC website if you wish to contact me.

James Hunter - regarding your question about Rob having anything to do with the discovery of David's affair, I'm pretty sure the answer to that is no. I know who informed Shayna, and it was not Rob. David was pretty brazen, and a number of people were aware of the situation. It got to be so brazen that some people close to Shayna felt they had to tell her, but that was not Rob.

Englin's exit-endorsement was nothing more than a malicious effort to throw so many of his friends and supporters under the bus. It was unseemly. Karen may have many strengths, but she has not 1/50th of onr percent of Rob's experience and technical expertise -- and both are essential in a state legislature that doesn't provide a full-time legislative aide to members. Rob will show up having already had years of legislative experience, and having already been a state board appointee. Englin's actions are a slap at everyone, and set Karen up for a needless and potentially harmful defeat. So long, Dave; keep packing those boxes.

Rare occasion when I agree with both Mark Williams and Jim Miller. I recevied some nasty emails from Shayna yesterday. They seem to be intent on alienating everyone who ever volunteered for David. I don't get it but whatever...I have a pretty thick skin. I wish them well in private life.

Can't help but notice, driving along Duke Street today, that the only political signs still in the median are for Sean Holihan.

Looks like "Team Englin" doesn't clean up after itself. But we already knew that.

Yes, there are 'Sean Holihan' signs ALL OVER ALEXANDRIA, as, and you're right Richard, they are the ONLY ones still up, now almost two weeks after the primary, where Holihan thankfully lost. This is a perfect example of how the Alexandria Democratic Committee doesn't clean up its mess, not 'Team Holihan', although Shayna Englin, with her crack campaign staff, apparently must have missed picking up quite a few, if not all of Sean Holihan's signs. This is a continuing problem of many past campaigns, where the loser simply throws in the towel and leaves all of his or her signs up all over Alexandria. Sean Holihan is the latest example of why he, his partner, Danny Barefoot, along with Shayna and David "Let Me Tuck You In Baby" Englin, needs to pack up and leave Alexandria, because their stench is out doing Sean's now obtrusive signs that dot medians throughout our city.

Pack up Karen also, before she transforms Team Englin into Team Gautney and starts her crusade to legally pursue every Alexandria heterosexual male over 13 as a Jerry Sandusky wannabe.

Based on the city application form - http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/planning/info/forms/PoliticalSignApplication.pdf - no political signs should be up now in public spaces, even if a candidate won a nomination (90 days before/15 days after).

I only can speak for what I've sean, though, and that was just Holihan signs.

Jim, there was nothing threatening in the emails I received from Shayna. Just let it go. Their family has been through enough. As for signs, each candidate pays a $100 bond to the city. They must remove their signs within ten days after the election of forfeit the bond, but then only if there is a complaint about the remaining signs. The candidates don't even always know where their signs are because volunteers put them up. If you see a sign, contact that candidate and ask them to remove it.

The very sad thing is we have no one with the credentials and integrity of Marion van Landingham, whom Del. Englin replaced. Respectively, Hank Odum