House District 016

Democratic candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe, was the 72nd Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. McAuliffe was unable to seek reelection in 2017 due to a state law that bars sitting governors from serving consecutive terms. McAuliffe attended The Catholic University of America and Georgetown University Law Center. A lifelong businessman and entrepreneur, McAuliffe has lived in Fairfax County for more than 20 years with his wife, Dorothy. The couple has raised five children together.

McAuliffe is centering his campaign on building a strong Virginia economy that works for everyone. He plans to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024, two years ahead of the current schedule. He wants to require employers to provide paid sick days along with paid family and medical leave to all workers. Because Virginia is the 10th most expensive state for childcare in the country, McAuliffe wants to assist families burdened with childcare costs by providing subsidies, funneling federal money to families, and making it easier for people to qualify for assistance.

McAuliffe plans to invest $2 billion in Virginia’s education system every year so that teachers are paid above the national average, children have access to universal pre-K, and every student can get online. To make college more affordable to students, McAuliffe will offer more financial aid and expand on current Governor Ralph Northam’s program that makes community college free to low- and middle-income students studying in certain fields. McAuliffe also wants to boost enrollment at Historically Black Colleges and Universities by providing free tuition to students who promise to teach for five years in the state’s high-need areas.

While serving as Governor of Virginia, McAuliffe took action to reduce carbon emissions in the state and received a $120.5 million federal grant to combat the rising sea level on Virginia’s coast. He wants Virginia to reach 100% clean energy by 2035 and make access to clean energy and transportation infrastructure more affordable by providing subsidies for solar usage and public transit construction. McAuliffe also plans to address the racial impacts of climate change by providing funding to communities hit by extreme heat and rising sea levels.

McAuliffe pushed for Medicaid expansion during his first term and wants to increase access to affordable healthcare by supporting Virginia’s plan to create a state-run health insurance marketplace. He backs lowering prescription drug costs, reducing health insurance premiums, and creating a Medicaid buy-in option for people who make too much to qualify for the program but still can’t afford out-of-pocket costs on the marketplace. When he was governor, McAuliffe vetoed Republican legislation that would have limited abortion access. If reelected, McAuliffe plans to incorporate Roe v. Wade into Virginia’s constitution to guarantee that abortion access is protected.

McAuliffe is running against multimillionaire Republican Glenn Youngkin, the former president of Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. Youngkin wants to channel the state’s money from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to fund private schools. Youngkin has admitted that he opposes abortion access and will work to dismantle protections for reproductive freedom in the Commonwealth. Youngkin is also against making health coverage more affordable in Virginia.

McAuliffe is also facing a challenge from activist and educator Princess Blanding, an Independent candidate. Blanding is the sister of Marcus David-Peters, a young Black man who was killed by police in 2018. Blanding wants to hold police accountable by ending qualified immunity and shifting funding away from police departments to invest in community services. She also wants to make health coverage more affordable by creating a public healthcare system.

Due to his record in providing leadership for the Commonwealth and his support of Virginia working families, the environment, affordable health coverage, and reproductive rights, Terry McAuliffe is the most progressive choice in this race.

The daughter of a Salvadorian and North African immigrant father and a Lebanese and Irish mother, Delegate Hala Ayala was one of the first Latina women elected to the House of Delegates, having one her first election to represent the 51st District in 2017. She worked for over 20 years as a cybersecurity specialist and is the single mother of two grown children. If chosen by voters to be the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Ayala will be the first woman and Afro-Latina to do so.

Affordable access to healthcare is a central focus for Ayala. As a first-time mother, Ayala depended on Medicaid to give her son life-saving care. In 2018, Ayala voted to expand Medicaid to 400,000 Virginians. In 2020, she co-patroned legislation to cap the cost of insulin in the state. In 2021, she voted to make the cost of prescription drugs transparent and to boost Virginia’s capacity to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. She also wants to reduce Black maternal mortality and create a universal paid family and medical leave program in the Commonwealth.

As a graduate of Prince William County schools, Ayala believes that a well-funded education system is critical to a thriving Commonwealth. In 2021, she voted to increase teachers’ salaries by 5%. She also supported the “Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and Program, which provides free community college to low- and middle-income students who are studying in certain fields. As lieutenant governor, Ayala will prioritize expanding access to pre-K, reducing overcrowding in classrooms, and dedicate more funding to improve school infrastructure.

Recognizing the climate crisis as a national security threat, Ayala believes the state needs to play a bigger role in addressing the impacts of climate change. She co-patroned the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which will eliminate carbon emissions in the Commonwealth by 2050. She also wants to dedicate more funding to communities dealing firsthand with the effects of climate change, believing that solutions to the crisis must be created with racial equity in mind.

Ayala personally understands how hard it is for families to make ends meet. Her family struggled financially when she was a child, and she worked and raised children while obtaining her degree. In 2020, Ayala voted to raise the state’s minimum wage. She supports making paid family and medical leave available to all Virginia working families. In 2021, she voted to strengthen the rights of tenants and protect them from eviction during the pandemic. She also sponsored legislation to protect workers during the pandemic by requiring employers to provide them with personal protective equipment and hazard pay.

Ayala is running against former delegate Winsome Sears, a Republican who represented Norfolk in the House of Delegates from 2002 to 2003. Sears owns a plumbing and appliance repair store in Winchester. Sears opposes legislation that would make our communities safer from gun violence. She also supports using public money to fund private schools and wants to create deliberate barriers to voting access that make it more difficult for people to participate in our democracy.

Due to her support of affordable health coverage, the environment, public education, and Virginia working families, Delegate Hala Ayala is the most progressive choice for lieutenant governor in Virginia.

Incumbent Attorney General Mark Herring is seeking his third term in office after having been first elected in 2013. Raised by a single mother in Loudoun County, Herring obtained a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia before earning his law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law. He and his wife of 30 years, Laura, raised two children together.

Herring has stood up for access to affordable healthcare by fighting off efforts by the Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2021, Herring defended the ACA by joining a coalition of 21 attorneys general to argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court against a lawsuit from the Trump administration that would have dismantled the ACA, protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and Medicaid expansion.

Herring is a champion of reproductive rights and abortion access, and has used his office to support a person’s right to decide when and whether to become a parent. He has signed onto several lawsuits that challenge different states’ restrictive abortion laws. He issued an opinion in 2015 to strike down medically unnecessary Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws that shuttered women’s health centers in the Commonwealth. In 2019, he successfully filed an injunction against the Trump administration’s efforts to halt contraceptive coverage in health insurance.

Herring has worked to keep our communities safe from gun violence by standing up to the gun lobby. In 2020, he defended two common-sense laws passed by the General Assembly aimed at preventing gun violence, the one-handgun-a-month law, and extended background checks. The same year, he also successfully defended a challenge to Virginia’s extreme risk protection law, which keeps guns out of the hands of people who pose a risk to themselves or others.

During his time in office, Herring has fought to keep the promise of democracy real by protecting access to the ballot box. This year, he applauded the passage of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia and joined other attorneys general in urging Congress to pass safeguards that guarantee people’s rights to participate in our democracy by voting. In 2020, he ensured that voters did not face intimidation while casting their ballots in our fair and free elections. In 2016, he defended a decision from former Governor Terry McAuliffe to restore the rights of returning citizens in the Commonwealth.

Herring is facing a challenge from Delegate Jason Miyares, a conservative Republican who wants to create deliberate barriers to voting access, undermine workers’ rights by keeping Virginia a right-to-work state, and oppose efforts to shift funding away from police budgets to community services. As a delegate, Miyares voted against raising the state’s minimum wage, expanding access to affordable healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Virginians, abolishing the death penalty, and legalizing marijuana. He also opposes abortion access.

Due to his support of access to affordable healthcare, abortion access, gun violence prevention, and voting rights, Attorney General Mark Herring is the most progressive choice for this race.

Captain Sean Casey, a Democrat, is running to be Alexandria’s next sheriff. Casey was born in Alexandria and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Virginia Tech. He joined the Alexandria Police Department following college. In 2017, he joined the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, where he was promoted to Captain. He is a member of the Alexandria Democratic Committee and co-chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee Labor Caucus. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the Brookville-Seminary Valley neighborhood.

Casey has worked to improve the quality of life for inmates at Alexandria’s jails. During the pandemic, as director of the Administrative Services Division, he worked to ensure all inmates and staff had access to testing and vaccinations. He worked to implement more access to free phone calls for inmates and personal items. He supports increased access to education and technology while incarcerated, including Life Learning, Life Skills, GED, and ESL. He would like to implement vocational and work release programs for inmates.


Casey supports increasing alternatives to incarceration. He is committed to maintaining the office’s partnership with Alexandria Treatment Court, which diverts individuals with substance abuse disorders out of the traditional justice system. He also supports the City’s Opioid Working Group, the Community Services Board, and the Community Criminal Justice Board. He supports Crisis Intervention Training which works to teach officers how to respond to mental health crises and keep citizens with mental illnesses safe during interactions with law enforcement.

If elected, Casey plans to prioritize developing a racial equity action plan for the office. Following the murder of George Floyd, Casey joined an advisory group comprised of sheriff’s office employees and community members that overhauled the office’s use of force policies and procedures. He’s also a member of the Office’s “Let’s Talk Diversity” group and serves as an “equity leader” in the City’s “Race and Social Equity Commitment” program. He would like to recruit and maintain a diverse group of officers and would evaluate the office’s hiring policies.

Casey understands that education is critical to ensuring that officers are able to interact with diverse populations. He has helped implement implicit bias training, autism awareness education, and use of force and de-escalation training for all law enforcement officers in the Alexandria Sheriff’s Department. He would like to further increase the cultural diversity education that officers receive. Additionally, Casey support’s the labor rights of his employees. He is a former union president and while working at the sheriff’s office helped implement pay raises and more paid time off for employees, as well as securing a 25-year retirement program.

Casey is running unopposed. However, his support for criminal justice reforms makes him a progressive choice in this election.

Incumbent Justin Wilson was first elected as mayor in November 2018. Before his election, Wilson served on the city council for eight years, including three years as Alexandria’s vice mayor. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. Wilson currently serves as a senior director at Amtrak. He and his wife currently reside in the Del Ray neighborhood with their two children.

During his years on the city council, Wilson emphasized the need to invest more in the city’s infrastructure. During his term as mayor, he has made several accomplishments, including securing funding for West End Transitway and the construction of the Potomac Yard Metro Station. He was also able to update fire stations, schools, and recreational facilities. He expanded the “Complete Streets” initiatives to improve pedestrian safety. Wilson will continue to push for budgets that address Alexandria’s infrastructural needs, including upgrading the stormwater system to address flooding issues in the city.

As mayor, Wilson will push for initiatives that will help improve early childhood education opportunities. He has successfully expanded access to quality preschool programs in the area by offering universal pre-K. Wilson has also increased funding to schools to address growing enrollment numbers. He was part of efforts that allowed Alexandria City Public Schools to safely reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilson also supported ending the school’s school resource officer program and diverting funding to a teen wellness center.

Wilson also wants to continue addressing racial inequities in Alexandria. He has worked with other members of the city council to create a community police review board as well as a co-response pilot program that would send mental health professionals along with police officers to respond to mental health-related emergencies. Wilson and his staff have also begun to tackle zoning and land-use policies that have segregated the city.

He is also focused on efforts that will help individuals and small businesses recover from the pandemic. Wilson has worked to accelerate economic growth in the city and address growing housing needs. He has worked with new public and private partnerships that would provide more affordable housing to the region. He has also worked to redevelop the Landmark mall site, increase access to broadband, and open public access to the city’s waterfront.

Incumbent Mayor Justin Wilson is facing a challenge from Republican candidate Annetta Catchings, a former American Airlines flight attendant of 34 years, and currently serves as co-director of a nonprofit focused on education. She opposes the city’s guaranteed income program and is openly against the removal of Confederate monuments. Catchings does not support government measures to protect communities during the pandemic.

Due to his support of increased funding for infrastructure, public education, addressing racial inequities in the city, and pandemic recovery, Wilson is the most progressive choice in this race.

Bryan Porter has served as Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney since 2014. He was born in Alexandria where he attended public schools and then graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University. After receiving his law degree from George Mason University School of Law, he was hired as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney and served as a prosecutor for over 20 years, He plays guitar in a ‘90s cover band and has published children’s books. Porter lives with his wife in Alexandria.

Since his election, Porter has worked for criminal justice reform and processes for rehabilitation whenever possible. He substantially decreased the office’s use of mandatory minimums, helping increase judicial discretion. He publicly supports the elimination of mandatory minimums. He supported the legalization of marijuana and supports defelonization of possession of narcotics. Porter also created two rehabilitative initiatives--the Alexandria Mental Health Initiative and Substance Abuse Treatment Court. Both programs work to avoid the incarceration and conviction of individuals whose mental health or substance use contributed to their criminal activity. He’s also worked to ensure minors stay in the juvenile court in nearly all circumstances.

Porter also has increased opportunities for criminal expungement for people convicted of certain minor offenses. Additionally, his office approved over 99% of expungement petitions since he was elected. This work helps citizens who have committed minor offenses have access to housing, education, and employment. Additionally, Porter supports the restoration of voting rights to returning citizens, believing that individuals who have been incarcerated and paid their debt to society deserve to have an active voice in elections.

Porter has also publicly acknowledged that systemic racism is inherent in the American criminal justice system. He was a founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice, a group of prosecutors advocating for criminal justice reform so that the system better serves minorities. ​These reforms include ending no-knock warrants, increasing police accountability, and removing the “three strikes” law. Porter has also reformed his office’s hiring processes, resulting in a more diverse group of prosecutors that better reflects the population of Alexandria.
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Additionally, while in office, Porter has eliminated cash bail, which discriminates based on ability to pay. He also required open discovery policies at Alexandria’s court, which allow individuals to have complete access to their case’s evidence. He served on the Virginia Bar’s Task Force and helped implement open discovery policies statewide. Before the use of the death penalty was abolished in Virginia, he supported abolition. He waved the use of it in all four murder capital murder cases charged while he was in office.

Porter is running unopposed.

Porter’s support for criminal justice reform, restoration of rights, records expungement, and racial justice makes him a progressive choice for this seat.