Will the third time be the charm for James “Vell” Rives in his quest to join the Arlington School Board?
Rives has qualified for the November election, where the seats of two incumbents who are not seeking re-election – Cristina Diaz Torres and David Priddy – will be on the ballot. The five School Board seats are elected on a rotating, at-large basis.
Rives, a psychiatrist, is past co-chair of the school system’s School Health Advisory Board (SHAB). He has been an Arlington resident for 25 years and his two children attend Wakefield High School and Gunston Middle School. His campaign priorities include school safety, academic rigor, teacher retention and fiscal responsibility.
It will be his third run for office:
• In 2022, Rives garnered 30 percent of the vote against Democratic endorsee Bethany Sutton.
• In 2023, Rives suspended his campaign during the summer, but his name remained on the ballot against the ultimate winner, Democratic endorsee Miranda Turner.
Democrats will choose their endorsees in caucus voting in May. While School Board elections in Virginia are officially nonpartisan, political parties can endorse candidates as opposed to formally nominating them. Republicans currently are on the hunt for endorsees, as well.
That said, the Democratic caucus typically serves as the gatekeeper for School Board elections. No non-Democrat has served on the body since the two wins of Republican-endorsed independent David Foster in 1999 and 2003.
Gretchen Reinemeyer, Arlington’s elections director, tells the GazetteLeader that Rives to date is the lone School Board candidate to qualify for the ballot. But that would not be unusual; Democratic candidates typically wait to see whether they win the caucus before filing requisite paperwork, and independent contenders have until June to get their paperwork in.
