By Cody Mello-Klein | cmelloklein@alextimes.com
Anna Leider, the former voter registrar who oversaw more than 40 elections in the city, died On Feb. 12 from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 62.
Leider grew up in Alexandria and began serving as an election official in the city in 1998. She worked her way up to the role of general registrar and director of elections to voter registrar and ultimately managed 41 elections, including four presidential elections. Prior to working as a registrar, Leider took her love for politics all the way to Capitol Hill, working for Sen. John Warner. She then became President Bill Clinton’s campaign manager in Alexandria and eventually served as the chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee from 1993 to 1997.
When news of Leider’s death broke online, there was an outpouring of love, support and heartbreak from residents, including many of Alexandria’s political leaders, who remembered Leider’s ability as a registrar and love for baseball and travel.
“Anna was brilliant, kind, and had a wonderful smile. Her enthusiasm for life was contagious,” former Mayor Allison Silberberg wrote on Facebook. “A few years ago, I ran into her at the start of a Nats game. I distinctly remember how she was all decked out in Nats gear, ready for the game. Later, she cherished that our team won the World Series. She was a terrific chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, and she did a magnificent job for many years as the Registrar in our City’s Office of Voter Registration and Elections. She was always fair and highly organized. What an unthinkable and heartbreaking loss.”
Mayor Justin Wilson recalled how he first met Leider 20 years ago while they worked together to plan a caucus.
“That started a friendship that spanned many elections, a lot of National talk, many parties and one VCU victory over her Jayhawks,” Wilson wrote on Twitter. “Nobody was more committed to our City and its people. We will miss Anna.”
A full news obituary will be published in the Feb. 24 paper.
