By Wafir Salih | wsalih@alextimes.com

The Alexandria Democratic primary election is entering its final stretch. A mayoral seat and six spots on the City Council are up for grabs. Three candidates are vying for the mayoral seat, and 11 are running for Council. There will be at least two new councilors joining the dais, given that two incumbents are running in the mayoral election.

In the race to be the Democratic nominees for City Council, 11 candidates are vying for six slots. Incumbents seeking reelection include Councilors Canek Aguirre, Sarah Bagley, John Taylor Chapman and Kirk McPike. Newcomers in the race are School Board members Abdel Elnoubi and Jacinta Greene, along with Kevin Harris, Jonathan Huskey, James Lewis, Jesse O’Connell and Charlotte Scherer.

Alexandria General Registrar Angie Turner noted a slight increase in early voting for this year’s Democratic primary, with 2,119 in-person absentee ballots cast as of June 9. These numbers are subject to change as early votes continue to come in. Turner highlighted this increase compared to the same point last year.

“At this point, we had 1,935 early voters in the 2021 Democratic primary,” Turner said.

She said the Office of Voter Registration and Elections has seven full-time employees and they have a wide variety of volunteers and election officers, as well as seasonal employees who come in closer to the primary to guarantee that there are enough people to manage all the processes.

Prior to every primary election, the office tests all voting equipment, trains election officers and prepares ballots by ordering them in advance. They also ensure that mail-in ballots are sent out 45 days before every election. Turner said the office begins these preparations well ahead of time.

“We begin several weeks before every election to ensure all of the activities are ready to go, and sometimes some things even begin earlier than that,” Turner said.

The office’s online dashboard, which updates daily and can be found at alexandriava.gov/Elections, shows a rapid increase in early voting last week as election day approaches, with a peak of 281 votes cast Saturday.

Turner said the office sees more early votes being cast during lunch time than in the morning.

“Typically, our 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. windows are our quietest window, and then we usually get a lunch rush,” Turner said.

The dashboard also shows that 2,282 mail-in ballots have been returned in the Democratic primary, with 3,984 ballots issued, but not yet returned.

This year’s Alexandria fall general election also coincides with the 2024 presidential election, a phenomenon that Turner said takes place every 12 years. This is because Alexandria’s local elections are held every three years, while presidential elections occur every four years.

“2012 would have been our [last] local and presidential year, so then 2024, this year, will also be a presidential and local year and then 2036 will be our next time in which a presidential and local year coincide based on current rules,” Turner said.

Turner noted that there have been several changes in voting procedures since the last time a local election and a presidential election coincided.

“In 2012, Virginia had absentee voting, which required individuals to choose from a list of approved reasons why they could not make it to the polls on Election Day. And then a few years ago, Virginia removed that, and it became no-excuse absentee,” Turner said.

This year’s mayoral race took a twist when current Mayor Justin Wilson announced in his monthly newsletter on Dec. 1, 2023, that he would not seek reelection. Just three days later, on Dec. 4, 2023, Councilor Alyia Gaskins announced her candidacy for the mayoral seat. Gaskins is serving her first term on Council after having been elected in 2021.

Vice Mayor Amy Jackson formally announced her candidacy a week after Gaskins, on Dec. 11, 2023, though it had been widely known in the community for some time that Jackson planned a mayoral bid.

Jackson is currently completing her second term on Council. By virtue of garnering the most votes of any Council member in the 2021 general election, Jackson became vice mayor. She was first elected to Council in 2018.

Steven Peterson, a former real estate developer, announced his candidacy on Jan. 11.

To date, six mayoral forums and two debates have been held between the three candidates.

The most recent debate between all three candidates was held on June 4 at the George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Old Town and was hosted by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce. Peterson missed the first major debate on April 30, hosted by the Alexandria Democratic Committee, due to a facial injury suffered in a fall that reportedly required hospitalization.

The 11 candidates for Council have also taken part in a number of forums and debates, with the latest debate taking place on May 30, which the Times covered.

Early voting ends this Saturday at 5 p.m. Polls will open at 8 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, June 18.