Democrat Rob Krupicka, Republican Tim McGhee, and Libertarian Justin Malkin are running for the House of Delegates seat in the 45th District. The voting takes place Tuesday Sept. 4.
The 45th seat in Virginia's House of Delegates is up for grabs, and the election is Tuesday Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day. Just five voting precincts, south and southwest of the Pentagon in Arlington, are part of the 45th District. That represents about 11,000 registered voters.
Republican Tim McGhee, Democrat Rob Krupicka and Libertarian Justin Malkin are running for the seat. The winner will finish the term that ends January 2014. All three candidates live in Alexandria. We have links to interviews with them below.
According to vpap.org, an organization that tracks money in Virginia politics, McGhee has raised $5,745, spent $1,219 and has $4,525 on hand as of Aug. 24. Malkin has raised $9,670, spent $8,606 and has $1,063 on hand. Krupicka had raised $8,260, money raised through his primary race earlier this year. He did not raise money during the general election. He has $8,260 on hand. Krupicka's "Eureka PAC" has $1,010 on hand, as of June 30.
Turnout is expected to be low here in Arlington and in eastern Alexandria and Fairfax County, where the district runs.
In Arlington so far absentee voting has been "extremely slow," said Linda Lindberg, the general registrar in the office of elections. Her office has gotten 45 absentee votes so far, just 28 in person and 17 by mail. Alexandria has received 197 in person absentee ballots and 81 via mail, said Anna Leider, deputy voting registrar for the City of Alexandria.
"We'll be doing good if we have about a two percent turnout" in the Arlington precincts on Tuesday, Lindberg said.
The seat is held until Aug. 31 by Dave Englin who is resigning after he admitted to an extra-marital affair earlier this year. The special election was scheduled by Gov. Bob McDonnell just a month ago. The scuttlebutt is that the governor chose that day to help the Republican in this left-leaning district. Low turnout could mean an upset win.
The Mercury interviewed all three candidates. Our wide-ranging discussions covered topics from the role of government, to federal healthcare and sequestration, to the Columbia Pike streetcar, to running during a shortened campaign. Click the links below to listen.
- Krupicka interview; campaign website, facebook
- Malkin interview, campaign website, facebook
- McGhee interview; campaign website; facebook
Special thanks to audio technician Jonathan Kim for his help in the interviews and to Arlington Independent Media for technical support.