Given the hold of the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s sample ballot on the overall electorate, the reality is that Election Day largely again will be a mere formality.
The School Board race is effectively unopposed; the five constitutional-office posts are unopposed; campaigns for General Assembly are either unopposed or in the bag for Democrats; and the broader electorate seems completely disengaged from and disinterested in the only election that might be even remotely competitive, that for two open seats on the County Board.
We certainly don’t fault – in fact, we rather admire – Democrats for having put in the work and turned Arlington into a political fortress. But one-party rule is never good, no matter the party doing it. It leads to sclerotic leadership, self-contratulatory behavior at the top and a view that the public is there to be endured – and used as a local government’s ATM – rather than served.
