ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Four terms of Bill Euille was enough for Alexandria’s voters, who for the second time in six months opted for Allison Silberberg to be the city’s next mayor.
The vice mayor held off a write-in challenge by Euille to take the city’s top office with 63 percent of the vote. Thirty-seven percent of the ballots included a write-in candidate for mayor, which may or may not have been cast for Euille, according unofficial election results.
Euille decided to run as a write-in candidate after he was defeated by Silberberg in the Democratic primary over the summer.
“I’m deeply honored that the citizens of Alexandria have spoken overwhelmingly,” Silberberg said at an election night party at a Mexican-American restaurant in Del Ray.
“It will be a new day in Alexandria. This is a change election. The citizens of Alexandria have voted for me, they believe in, I think, historic preservation. It’s a core value of our city and it should be a core value in our leadership.”
The pace and type of development in the city was a major issue in the city’s primary and again in the general election.
“I kept saying it’s time for change; that we should restore the people’s trust and that we should pursue thoughtful, appropriate development that fits in and is to scale and protect our neighborhood’s quality of life and we should preserve and protect the historic districts of our city,” Silberberg said.
Euille said he knew mounting a successful write-in campaign would be difficult. But he doesn’t regret making it a competitive race for voters.
“Alexandria will be better off for continuing to have a strong Democratic government,” he said. “I’ll continue to reside in the city, live here, work here, play here, have fun and make sure that Alexandria continues to be the best city in America.”
