3 State Senate Candidates, 2 for Attorney Vie in F.C. Debate

Commonwealth Attorney Challenger Parisa Dehghani-Tafti (left) squared off against incumbent Theo Stamos last Sunday in the first major debate before the June 11 primary. (Photo: News-Press) The election season is hot and heavy already, not only with the presidential sweepstakes grabbing headlines nationally, but with the unique situation that Virginia has: hosting the only comprehensive elections in the U.S. in 2019. That is, every state legislative seat will be on the ballot this November, and unlike recent years, this time both houses of the state legislature are in play for control by one party or the other. When the Democrats picked up 15 seats in the House of Delegates in the 2017 election, it brought them within one seat of controlling that body, and it is already a virtual tie in the State Senate. So, a record number of these races are now being hotly contested, and that includes in primaries, where in the case of this area, Democratic incumbents are facing primary challenges in key races, including one non-state race, the election for the Commonwealth Attorney in the Arlington-Falls Church area. This produced the first major debate among contenders in the June 11 Democratic Primary to include candidates who will be on the ballot in the City of Falls Church. The event was hosted by the Falls Church and George Mason High School chapters of the League of Women Voters last Sunday at the GMHS auditorium. A spirited crowd gathered for the two-part debate, run entirely by the Mason student members of the LWV. In the first part, veteran incumbent Dick Saslaw squared off against two challengers, Yasmin Taeb and Karen Torrent. In the second part, incumbent Commonwealth Attorney Theo Stamos squared off against her challenger, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. There’s more. In Falls Church we have local elections to

Read more from our friends at the NRA...