Alexandria Primary Election 2019: Saslaw, Parks Win

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Alexandria voters headed to the polls Tuesday, June 11 to decide candidates in primary elections for state legislative and local seats in the Nov. 5 general election. Greg Parks won the Democratic primary for clerk of court while Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw won the Democratic primary in the 35th Senate District.

A portion of Alexandria falls in the 35th Senate District, which held one of the closely watched Democratic primaries. Saslaw held off his first Democratic primary challenge since he first ran for Virginia's Senate in 1979. Saslaw got 48.5 percent of the vote, followed by Yasmine Taeb with 45.4 percent and Karen Torrent with 6 percent. The Alexandria precincts in the 35th district include Hermitage, John Adams, William Ramsay and Southport.

Although there are no other primaries for state legislative seats in Alexandria, all Virginia House of Delegates and Senate seats will be up for grabs in the November general election.

Current Clerk of Court Ed Semonian is retiring after serving since 1979, Alexandria Times reported. The clerk is responsible for maintaining records for the Circuit Court and real estate among other services.

The candidates were Ben Ortiz, who has 15 years of experience in Alexandria Circuit Court, and Greg Parks, who has worked for federal agencies and Alexandria committees and commissions. Ortiz has been endorsed by Semonian and former Mayor Kerry Donley, while Parks earned endorsements from Mayor Justin Wilson, former Mayor Bill Euille, Sheriff Dana Lawhorne and others.

Polls were open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. was able to vote. Voters must be registered and present photo identification in order to cast a ballot. Voters who do not have photo ID could cast a provisional ballot.