Two Gay Candidates Enter Race for Alexandria City Council
Washington Blade - March 30, 2021
Gay Democratic and civic activists James Lewis and Kirk McPike are running for seats on the Alexandria, Va., City Council in the city’s June 8 Democratic primary.
The Alexandria Council consists of seven members, including the city’s mayor, who runs in a separate mayoral election. All seven of the positions come up for election in the same year.
Lewis and McPike are among 13 candidates, including at least three incumbents, running in the primary and competing for the six at-large, non-mayoral seats on the Council. The Council does not include any district or ward seats.
The two men each have a chance of winning the nomination for two of the six seats in the primary. Under election rules, the six highest vote-getters are declared the winners in the primary. Both Lewis and McPike have been endorsed by the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which supports openly LGBTQ candidates for local and national election contests.
Lewis currently serves as vice chair of the Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board and has served on other city boards and commissions, including the Transportation Commission, according to the Alexandria Patch. The site says he is the former president of the Virginia Young Democrats, has served as an Alexandria Democratic precinct captain, and has worked as a congressional communications director.
A Victory Fund statement announcing its endorsement of McPike says McPike currently serves as chief of staff to gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.). The statement says prior to serving on Takano’s staff McPike “spent nearly a decade working in Democratic politics in Virginia, California, and Texas.” It says he has served on key Alexandria city commissions that deal with affordable housing and the city budget.
A spokesperson for the Alexandria Board of Elections said the local Republican Party has selected to nominate its City Council candidates in an upcoming party caucus. With a majority of Alexandria voters registered as Democrats, the Democratic nominees for the City Council are considered to have an advantage in the November general election.