Sandy Marks Wins Alexandria City Council Seat: Unofficial Results

Updated at 8:26 p.m.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Democrat Sandy Marks has won the Alexandria City Council special election, according to unofficial vote totals Tuesday evening.

According to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections, independent former City Council member Frank Fannon came in second.

Marks took 24, 869 votes, or 53.37 percent of the total. Fannon got 13,702 votes or 29.41 percent. Community Alison Virginia O'Connell took 6,999 votes for 15.02 percent.

Fannon carried the Old Town North, Old Town South, Trinity and Lyles Crouch School precincts.

O'Connell performed best in the Charles E Beatley Library, the Charles Houston Center and the Del Pepper Center precincts, where she took more than 20 percent of the vote.

Marks will now fill the seat vacated by R. Kirk McPike.

McPike had served on the council since 2021, but resigned in January to run for the state’s House of Delegates, a race he won. Marks will now serve the remainder of McPike’s term, through 2027.

More on the candidates:

Frank Fannon: If elected this will be Fannon’s second term on the council. He served as a Republican from 2009 to 2012 but did not win reelection then. He contested the special election as an independent, running on a campaign that warned against unmanaged growth, maintaining the city’s single-family neighborhoods, opposing tax increases, supporting a ward-based voting system and separating Alexandria politics from national debates. Fannon raised the most of all three candidates in the election but had the most cash on hand heading into the final week of the race, according to a report by Alexandria Brief.

Fannon’s top donors by occupation came from the financial services sector, the real estate and construction sector, and the legal sector – perhaps not surprising, considering his three decades as a mortgage banker. Alexandria Brief points out that local business owners also figure prominently in his donor list.

Fannon raised the most of all candidates, with nearly $85,000 raised but wasn’t actually the biggest spender. He only spent just under $40,000 by April 9. He also got donations from farthest afield in Virginia. Only about $6,000 of his money raised came in amounts under $100.

Sandy Marks: The Democratic candidate is an advocacy communications specialist who served two terms as Alexandria’s Democratic Committee chair. She won the party’s February primary with nearly 40 percent of the vote in a five-candidate field.

Marks’ main issues as listed on her website were public education, housing affordability, equity and access, and defending democracy. She supported promoting arts and sports in schools and creating more recreational space for Alexandria kids, using tax incentives and permitting changes to encourage more housing construction, facilitating equal access to city resources across neighborhoods, and protecting reproductive services and other rights and communities targeted by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Marks earned more small-dollar donations and had raised $53,131. Her top defined donors (as opposed to “miscellaneous” or “undefined”) came from people employed in the retail, law and political sectors. She had spent nearly 40,000 by April 9. More than $10,000 of what she raised came in amounts less than $100.

Alison O’Connell: A community organizer and activist running as an independent, raised far less than her competitors, bringing in about $4,600 by April 9. She had spent about half of that by the last reporting date. Her biggest donors by occupation were in the retail, health care and public services sector and the vast majority of donations to her campaign came in increments of less than $100.

O’Connell attributes her dive into local politics to her experience in building Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights, part of the DC/MD/VA Coalition For a Free Palestine. She told the Alexandria Times her top three priorities are “Making housing more affordable and protecting renters, getting ICE out of our city in any and every way we can and establishing an ethical investment policy that brings our city funds into alignment with our city’s values.” Her online platform led with the idea of “Trump-proofing” Alexandria, but also included proposals to increase school budgets, protect reproductive rights at the state level and expand tenants’ rights.

The Alexandria City Council determines the city’s needs and the degree of service to be provided by the administrative branch of the city government, according to the Alexandria City website. The mayor presides over council meetings and serves as the ceremonial head of government but does not have the power to veto City Council actions. Council members choose the city’s vice mayor, who performs the duties of the mayor if needed.

The council’s current four priorities are advancing housing opportunities, reducing community disparities, strengthening the local economy and recruiting and retaining the city’s workforce. Federal job cuts have disproportionately affected the region’s economy, and at the end of last year, the city produced its first roadmap for economic growth since 2007, ALX Now reported.

The plan's recommendations to reverse negative trends include leveraging economic opportunities in sites with the potential for mixed-use development, including Potomac Yard, Old Town North, West End, Carlyle, and Eisenhower East; attracting more diverse, high-growth industries to the city; and building more support for local entrepreneurs.