Arlington County

Our country is facing several unprecedented crises all at once. The COVID-19 pandemic, police brutality, and racism are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems we need to tackle head-on. The 2020 Presidential race comes at a defining moment in our history, and this is a pivotal election that will decide the fate of America for generations to come.

Joe Biden was the 47th Vice President of the United States, serving in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. He represented the state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009. During his time with the Obama administration, he was an influential adviser to the President, helping usher in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a monumental reform to America’s healthcare system where 20 million Americans gained health coverage. Biden also oversaw infrastructure spending under Obama’s stimulus package response to the 2008 recession and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

If elected President, Biden has pledged to codify Roe V. Wade, restore federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and repeal the Hyde Amendment. His response to the coronavirus pandemic involves widespread, free testing, and the distribution of a vaccine with no out-of-pocket costs. Biden wants to make affordable healthcare available to more Americans by strengthening the ACA and offering a public option for health coverage. Biden believes that gun violence is a public health crisis and plans to ban the manufacture and sale of assault rifles and high capacity magazines, close loopholes that allow guns to get in the wrong hands, require background checks for gun sales, and institute red flag laws.

Biden’s platform to address climate change involves embracing central components of the Green New Deal––getting the world to net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 and aligning environmental and economic policies. He announced a $2 trillion plan to invest in clean energy while creating economic opportunity and strengthening infrastructure.

Biden also pledged to restore the Voting Rights Act. As a U.S. Senator in 2006, Biden co-sponsored legislation to renew key sections of the Voting Rights Act. It was signed by then President George W. Bush.

Biden plans to address economic inequality by increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, increasing affordable housing, ending discrimination in the housing market, investing in transportation, protecting tenants’ rights, boosting the power of unions and workers’ rights to collectively bargain, and checking corporate power over workers.

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is the incumbent and Republican nominee. He won the 2016 election by capturing a majority of votes in the electoral college votes while losing the popular vote by 3 million votes. In 2020, Trump was impeached for requesting foreign assistance in the 2016 election. During his time in office, he attacked affordable healthcare by attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, overhauled the U.S. tax system to benefit the richest one percent of Americans and wealthy corporations, and took away Title IX funding for Planned Parenthood. He appointed conservative judges to the judiciary who are hostile to abortion rights, denied amnesty to thousands of immigrants fleeing violence from Central America, attempted to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protected young immigrants from deportation, sided with racists during times of racial upheaval in our nation, and completely botched the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to Trump’s racism, attacks on immigrants, attempts to take away healthcare, and proven inability to lead our nation, Joe Biden is the clear progressive choice for the 2020 Presidential election.

Senator Kamala Harris is the first Black woman and South Asian American woman to be nominated for Vice President of the United States by a major party. As the daughter of immigrants, Harris’s groundbreaking nomination is a win for people of color. She was elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate in 2016, before that she was Attorney General of California. As a Senator, Harris serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Budget.

During her time in the Senate, Harris became known for grilling Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Attorney General William Barr during their confirmation hearings. 

Harris blames the Trump administration for the severity of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. 
Harris believes that the federal government should respond to the coronavirus pandemic by giving Americans $2,000 monthly stipends while banning evictions, utilities shutoffs, foreclosures, and rent increases. She signed onto the Masks For All Act, which would provide free masks to Americans at no cost. Harris introduced legislation that would establish a task force to address health inequities made apparent by pandemic. She also believes free and widespread testing should be available. 

Harris supports a $15 minimum wage for working families. While in the Senate, Harris worked to repeal Trump’s 2017 tax breaks for the richest one percent through her legislation called the LIFT Act, which would cut taxes for the working class and lift 9 million people out of poverty. Harris also introduced a bill to help Americans with housing by offering 13.3 million families tax subsidies to afford rent. Harris received a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO. She also introduced legislation to strengthen the rights of public sector workers and their right to collectively bargain. 

While in the Senate, Harris co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act of 2019. During her run for President, she proposed a 10-year transition plan for universal coverage where private insurers would be allowed to compete provided they follow certain rules. As candidate for Vice President, Harris supports Joe Biden’s plan to strengthen the Affordable Care Act by offering a public option.    

In response to the police murder of George Floyd, Harris introduced with other Senators the Justice in Policing Act, legislation that would bans chokeholds and no-knock warrants, set national standards to hold police officers accountable for misconduct, prohibit racial profiling, and established a national data collection system on police misconduct.  

Cristina Diaz-Torres is a former school teacher who now specializes in education policy. She taught at Title-I schools in Las Vegas, where she saw the negative impact of policies designed by people with no classroom experience. After deciding that education policy needed to be more data-driven and have more input from experts and teachers, she began to work with education organizations across the country to help them implement better policies to help students and teachers. She was worked to get teachers back to work in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, managed a grant program to correct inequalities in Massachusetts public schools, and worked with Delaware schools to develop and improve social-emotional learning programs.

Diaz-Torres is committed to equal educational opportunities for all students, regardless of race, gender, or immigration status. She will improve academic performance for the 15-20% of Arlington students who remain below grade level. Diaz-Torres believes that inequality was created by design and can be fixed by redesigning systems to be less unequal when leaders keep equality in mind and include the traditionally disadvantaged in the decision-making process.

She believes that education is best when all stakeholders have a place at the table, including educators, parents, and community leaders. Her website is in both English and Spanish in the interest of full transparency and accessibility for all stakeholders. Diaz-Torres will work to support educators with teacher-driven, educator-based professional development. She supports interest based bargaining over collective bargaining because she believes it creates the best outcomes for both students and teachers.

Regarding school reopening, she made statements in support of the Arlington Superintendent’s decision to not reopen Arlington schools for the fall semester of 2020-2021.

Diaz-Torres is one of two people running for two open seats in this race, meaning she is effectively running unopposed. The Arlington Democratic Committee has endorsed Diaz-Torres.

Cristina Diaz-Torres is a progressive choice for this race.

David Priddy was born and raised in Arlington, Virginia, and has actively worked to improve Arlington Public Schools for years. He served on several PTA boards, including the Abingdon PTA, the Patrick Henry PTA, the Fleet PTA,  and has served as president of the Thomas Jefferson Middle School PTA since 2019. He is part of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Equity and Excellence, the Advisory Council on Instruction, the County Council of PTAs, and the NAACP Education Committee. 

Priddy believes that equity must be the driving force behind all changes to education policy for Arlington Public Schools. He will work to ensure Arlington schools have a diverse teaching staff that reflects the diverse student population. Priddy will require cultural competency training for all teachers, staff, vendors, and contractors employed by Arlington public schools. 

Priddy wants to listen to all impacted members of the community regarding changes in Arlington schools. He believes that offering competitive salaries and benefits will allow Arlington to attract the best teachers in the Commonwealth. 

David Priddy is one of two people running for two open seats in this race. Therefore, he is effectively running unopposed. The Arlington Democratic Committee has endorsed Priddy in his run for School Board. 

David Priddy is a progressive choice for this race. 
 

Federal employee and lawyer Symone Walker is an Arlington Public Schools (APS) parent, community advocate, attorney, and mediator who believes that diversity of all types, equity, and equality are paramount in APS.  

Walker has worked as a Department of Justice (DOJ)  attorney for 20 yrs and also as a DOJ mediator for 14 years. She has a long history of civic engagement, including the Arlington Special Education PTA (SEPTA) policy review committee, Arlington Special Education Advisory Committee (ASEAC) policy review and special education program review committees, Superintendent's Committee for Equity and Excellence, Volunteer Judge for Court Competitions with the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, NAACP Education Committee, and Arlington County's Health Equity Initiative. 

Walker is a member of Black Parents of Arlington (BPA), the NoVA chapter of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), and Decoding Dyslexia Virginia.

She wants to prioritize mental health, acknowledge systemic and implicit biases, incorporate diversity into the curriculum and culture, and ensure that teachers are well-trained, well-compensated, and are diverse and representative of the students they teach. Walker envisions an equitable APS where students who need more help, get more help and all voices are heard and considered.

Based on her platform, Symone Walker is a progressive choice in this race.