To the editor,

We did it! Frank Fannon and Alicia Hughes have the title of Alexandria City Councilmen-elect! I just love the smell of victory in the morning!

I want to personally thank every one of you who took the time to vote yesterday in the Alexandria City Council race and sent a message that one-party rule just isnt right in the land of a democratic republic.

Whether you responded to my column or the Alexandria Republican City Committee messages of plunking for our three endorsed candidates, you took to the polls to buck the trend of single-party domination in Alexandria.

Thank you, not just for your vote, but for your time be it an hour, a day, a week or a month of helping this team-oriented campaign succeed. Whether you walked your neighborhood or several neighborhoods made phone calls or sent e-mails by the dozens, wrote a check, wrote a letter or simply cast your all-important ballot, this grassroots effort allowed us to garner two seats on the City Council.

This is just the beginning. As Lincoln became the first Republican president in winning the election of 1860, GOP candidate John C. Fremont helped lay the groundwork with his 1856 candidacy. Likewise in Alexandria, we shocked the community when Joe Murray was narrowly defeated by a mere 16 votes in a January special election for a House of Delegates seat. This, in an 80-20 Democratic majority district, jump-started the current GOP effort.

While we congratulate our new councilmen-elect Frank Fannon and Alicia Hughes, we also thank Phil Cefaratti. Each of the three GOP-endorsed candidates worked tirelessly getting out their messages to the public, appearing at countless homeowners association meetings, Metro stations, strip mall parking lots, neighborhood after neighborhood and candidate forums. All three can hold their heads high for running honorable campaigns with dignity and integrity.

But the work isnt over just yet. We are on a roll. With House of Delegates seats at stake along with statewide races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, we are looking ahead to November and a Congressional race in 2010.
All things are possible with your continued help and support. Lets keep the ball rolling and continue to take back our government.

Sanford D. Horn,
Alexandria