One step in the city's electoral process is over, following the Democratic and Republican caucuses held Feb. 1, and now it's a sprint to the May 6 finish line.
Just over 2,600 Alexandrians voted in the two caucuses; 525 Republicans and 2,131 Democrats participated in the process.
"We were very pleased with the turnout, particularly since we haven't had a caucus in many years," said Kelly Scrabak, the chair of the Alexandria Republican City Committee. "It's good to see that so many people wanted to participate in the process."
Susan Kellom, the chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, agreed. "We wanted to do better than we did the last time, and we have done that," she said. "We are excited that we have six excellent candidates to join Bill Euille on the ticket."
Neither party's mayoral candidate had any opposition. Vice Mayor Bill Cleveland will run for mayor on the Republican side, and Councilman William D. Euille will run for mayor on the Democratic side. Townsend Van Fleet is the Independent candidate for mayor.
The Republicans had seven candidates vying for six seats. Doug Wood was the unsuccessful candidate. The Republican nominees are Keith Burner, Allison Cryor, incumbent Councilwoman Claire Eberwein, Judy McVay, Matthew Natale and John Reardon. The Alexandria Republican City Committee did not release vote totals for any candidate.
THE DEMOCRATS had 12 candidates vying for six slots. The nominees and their vote totals are incumbent Councilwoman Redella S. "Del" Pepper, 1,218; incumbent Councilwoman Joyce Woodson, 1,097; Ludwig Gaines, 1,079; Andrew Macdonald, 993; Rob Krupicka, 966; and Paul Smedberg, 939.