(File photo)
One of the more interesting information points in Alexandria’s local election season comes with first quarter campaign finance filings with the Virginia Department of Elections. Required by law, these reports shed light on who raised how much, from whom and when.
These reports can reveal which candidates have mostly local support and which are mainly backed by people outside of Alexandria. They tell us who raised more money from small donors and who from large. And they tell us which candidates have already spent freely and which have the most dry powder on hand.
Of the 15 candidates competing in the June 8 Democratic primary, 13 are running for the six seats on council and two are vying for the right to wield the mayoral gavel on the dais. Together, all 15 candidates raised a total of almost half a million dollars in the first quarter of 2021 – $470,031 to be exact. That’s a formidable sum raised in three months for a local election.
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The registrar s office for the city of Richmond. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News)
The Richmond Electoral Board has hired Keith Balmer to replace former elections chief Kirk Showalter, who was forced out after numerous complaints she mismanaged the 2020 election.
The three-member board voted 2-1 to hire Balmer for the role at an ad-hoc meeting Tuesday night. Vice Chair Joyce King Smith, a Democrat was the sole dissenting vote, while Board Chairman Jim Nachman, a Democrat, and Starlet Stevens, a Republican, both voted in favor of Balmer.
In an interview with VPM, Nachman said Balmer is “imminently qualified” to be Richmond’s next General Registrar.