VPAP: Campaign Disclosures for Arlington Board Special Election Now Online
Five Democrats compete this week for their party's nomination in the special election to fill a vacant seat on the Arlington County Board.
With hours to go before the first round of voting in this week's Democratic caucus for the Arlington County Board special election, the Virginia Public Access Project has posted the candidates' campaign disclosures online.
The disclosures account for money raised and spent between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2011.
Click on the candidate's name to see their disclosure on VPAP:
A quick comparison shows that Arlington School Board member Libby Garvey raised the most money in the second half of last year ($33,940) and had the most on hand at the end of the year ($26,088).
Political and community activist Melissa Bondi spent the most of the five candidates ($21,017) and had the second-highest cash on hand as of Dec. 31 ($9,923).
The caucus is open to all registered voters in Arlington County.
Voting takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. today at Washington-Lee High School, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Kenmore Middle School.
Voters will be asked to declare themselves Democrats for the purposes of this caucus. Arlington Republicans plan to field a single candidate, and third-party candidates are chosen through a different process.
The special election will be March 27.
C.D.
8:48 am on Friday, January 20, 2012
Another in the Patch's year-long series of features about Democrats, leading up to the November 6th elections.
Jason Spencer
12:35 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
I'm sorry some Green Party activists/voters feel slighted. That is not my intention. I've been covering elections, from sewer commissions to the presidential race, for more than a decade. The best practice, and the one I continue to follow, is to focus exclusively on contested primary races before the primary, and then focus on contested general elections. (There are rare exceptions.)
It makes sense to focus our time on the races voters will first have to make a choice in. And many people don't stay informed about local elections, so including candidates who won't be on a ballot can confuse people. Believe me, it happens. We will focus on the Republican, Green, the Democratic nominee and any other candidates in election stories after this weekend's caucus leading up to the March 27 special election.
In the meantime -- and I was going to mention this to Audrey when I meet with her -- we would be happy to set up a Green Party representative to blog for Patch. That person then could write about whatever topics they'd like whenever they'd like. (Blogs receive minimal editing; I basically just have to make sure they meet our terms of service -- that they don't contain cursing and the like.)
And that offer is an open invitation, one that would last beyond March 27 no matter who wins. I was thinking Miriam Gennari (http://patch.com/A-lHQY) would be a good fit, but feel free to talk with your fellow party members about who you think would be the best person to contribute.
Rafael
1:19 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
If you vote in this caucus, you are compelled to vote Democratic in the election. Many are not familiar with the Republican and the Green candidate at this stage and will have been forced to decide prematurely that they will vote against them.
Jason Spencer
2:50 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Not true. I've now triple-checked with the county and the Democratic Party: No one who signs the pledge in order to vote in this week's caucus is legally bound to support any candidate in the March 27 election. Nor does the pledge affect a voter's ability to choose to vote in non-Democratic primary races in the future.
Mark Blacknell
3:47 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
This is what the pledge says (to the very best of my recollection):
"I certify that I am a resident of and registered to vote in Arlington County, Virginia; I am a Democrat; I believe in the principles of the Democratic Party; and I do not intend to support, endorse or assist any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee or endorsee in the ensuing election."
That doesn't compel me to vote Democratic in the general - it's a statement of my beliefs and intent at the time I signed it. Beyond being eminently an reasonable approach in a state that doesn't have party registration, it also provides me with a perfect honest exit should the winning Democratic candidate turn out to be unacceptable to me.
If, for example, Peter Fallon (sorry, Peter, you just seem like the candidate with the best sense of humor) wins and were to immediately turn around and declare that he supports Rick Santorum for President and - even worse - he's going to lead the charge in helping Fairfax annex Arlington County, I could certainly support another candidate in the general *without* breaking my oath. I didn't *intend* to support a non-Dem when voting, but after finding out about his new positions, I changed my mind. Perfectly compatible with oath.
All that said, I wonder what Jim Hurysz thought he was accomplishing by handing out Clement flyers outside of the caucus last night. Oh, Green Party, I like the idea of you, but man, your execution is almost always a bucket of fail.