2024 General Elections: Arlington and Alexandria

JD Spain has a strong record of advocacy for Expanded Housing Options (Missing Middle), including repeatedly testifying at public hearings. He is an experienced local civic leader, including with various civic organizations, the Civil Service Commission, and four years as president of the NAACP Arlington Branch. He is also a member of YIMBYs of NoVA.

His questionnaire responses were enthusiastic about making homeownership more accessible and expanding the range of housing choices. He stressed supporting low-income residents and increasing Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) contributions. He said he would modernize public engagement to more effectively reach renters.

Kirk was elected to Council in 2021 and has been a strong ally of housing for his entire tenure. A key supporter of Zoning for Housing, Kirk has also consistently pushed for a phase 2 of these reforms to build on what the current council passed in 2023. He is a consistent voice of reason on Council when other members question whether particular housing projects should be approved, reminding his colleagues of the urgency of our housing crisis and the need to continue adding to Alexandria’s housing supply.

Sarah was elected to Council in 2021 and has been a strong ally of housing for her entire tenure. She was a key supporter of Zoning for Housing throughout the process, not only ushering reforms forward but also consistently pushing for future phases of reforms that include things like parking and permitting reform. Sarah is also a strong supporter of public transit and bicycle & pedestrian improvements, and works professionally on committed affordable housing.

Canek was first elected in 2018 and has a strong pro-housing record. A key supporter of Zoning for Housing, Canek has also pushed for a phase 2 and has stated multiple times that phase 1 did not go far enough. Canek has a particular focus on renter representation and on committed affordable housing for those earning below 40% of area median income, though these focuses do not stop him from consistently supporting market rate housing projects either. Canek is also a strong supporter of public transit, and fully understands the need for an “all of the above” approach to building up Alexandria’s housing supply.

Abdel is a sitting member of the School Board. While he has no record on housing yet, his responses to our questionnaire emphasized his knowledge of and commitment to addressing Alexandria's affordability crisis by expanding the city's housing stock to ensure that housing supply meets the demand to live in Alexandria. We particularly appreciate his attention to increasing the number of homes built near transit in Alexandria, a key opportunity to increase the city's housing supply.

Jacinta is a sitting member of the School Board. She has no public record on housing yet, but is familiar with the impacts of the housing crisis through her work as a public housing advocate and as a Commissioner for the Alexandria Commission on Women. We are impressed by her commitment to making housing affordability a key issue in her campaign for City Council, and to ensuring that housing is a central part of the conversation for any initiative that comes before Council.

John was first elected to Council in 2012, making him the longest-serving incumbent and a key source of institutional knowledge and memory on Council. His long record on housing includes support for the City's current Housing Master Plan, which is now in the process of being updated, as well as strong support for affordable housing funding and for the work of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority. We particularly appreciated the attention to detail in his questionnaire responses, including his desire to use land more effectively by putting housing atop inert parking lots and including homes in school construction projects.

Alyia was first elected to Council in 2021 and quickly established herself as a true housing champion. She puts in the hard work to address our housing crisis not just from the dais, but also behind the scenes and out in the community. Our members voted overwhelmingly to endorse Alyia in the Democratic primary for mayor, and with our support she won a landslide victory. She is now running unopposed in the general election, and retains our enthusiastic endorsement.