Alexandria Primary Results: Wilson Wins Mayoral Race, More - Del Ray, VA - Mayor Justin Wilson once again defeated former Mayor Allison Silberberg in a rematch, and the City Council nominees were decided.
Every three years, Alexandria's local elections provide a spark of civic engagement. In this mostly one-party town, the Democratic primary tends to be the main
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Moderator Michael Pope (top left) questions City Council candidates Mark Shiffer, Alyia Gaskins, James
Lewis (center left), Meronne Teklu, Bill Rossello and Canek Aguirre (bottom) about local issues in the
ADC s first virtual debate.
With the June 8 Democratic primary arriving quickly, 13 City Council candidates gathered for two separate virtual debates hosted by the Alexandria Democratic Committee this week.
The first forum consisted of Bill Rossello, Mark Shiffer, Meronne Teklu, James Lewis, Alyia Gaskins and incumbent Canek Aguirre. Moderator and Alexandria Gazette Packet contributor Michael Pope questioned the candidates about some of the city’s most pressing issues, ranging from growth, development and affordable housing to collective bargaining, broadband competitiveness and the future of road diets.
City Council candidate Bill Rossello literally has widespread involvement in the Alexandria community.
A Baltimore native of Puerto Rican descent, Rossello moved to Alexandria in 1988 and married his wife, Bonnie, a year later. During his more than three decades in the city, Rossello has lived in three of Alexandria’s distinct neighborhoods – Old Town, North Ridge and Seminary Hill.
According to Rossello, his long-standing connection to the city and its residents distinguishes him from most of the other candidates running for council in the June 8 Democratic primary.
“The rest of the folks are relatively, you know, they haven’t lived here very long, they haven’t seen a lot, they don’t really understand, in my mind, the full context of where we’ve been as a city,” Rossello said.
(File photo)
One of the more interesting information points in Alexandria’s local election season comes with first quarter campaign finance filings with the Virginia Department of Elections. Required by law, these reports shed light on who raised how much, from whom and when.
These reports can reveal which candidates have mostly local support and which are mainly backed by people outside of Alexandria. They tell us who raised more money from small donors and who from large. And they tell us which candidates have already spent freely and which have the most dry powder on hand.
Of the 15 candidates competing in the June 8 Democratic primary, 13 are running for the six seats on council and two are vying for the right to wield the mayoral gavel on the dais. Together, all 15 candidates raised a total of almost half a million dollars in the first quarter of 2021 – $470,031 to be exact. That’s a formidable sum raised in three months for a local election.