Alexandria Prepares for Unprecedented November Ballot

The ballot for the Nov. 6 election is as special for what is listed on it as what is not—party affiliations for Alexandria’s City Council and mayoral candidates.

While Alexandria’s lengthy ballot will show party affiliations for the national races, local races will not.

Additionally, thanks to the state draw selecting party order on the ballot, in Alexandria, Republicans will be listed first, followed by Democrats and then Libertarians.

“I think it’s great to be on top,” said Alexandria Republican City Committee Chairman Tom Fulton. “It’s a two-page ballot front and back. It’s going to be hard to get voters to fully understand all of the ballot and to get them to remember to flip it over. They have to remember there are 12 choices and they can select six city [council] candidates. … I don’t know if there’s such a thing as ballot fatigue, but that might be the case here. … Having the three Republicans on the top of the ballot is to our advantage.”

But Dak Hardwick, chairman of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, says it doesn't matter if the Democratic candidates were listed first, second or even last. “We'd still be doing all the things we are already doing—talking to voters, knocking on doors, having debates and asking citizens for their vote.”

He also noted that because the Republicans don’t have a candidate in the mayoral race, Democratic incumbent Mayor Bill Euille, route: {:controller=>"articles", :action=>"show", :id=>"euille-says-there-s-still-work-to-be-done"} --> will be listed first, followed by independent mayoral candidate after he was