The clock is ticking, and in just five months, the Arlington general-election ballot will be set.
Those seeking to run for either Arlington School Board or as an independent in the Arlington County Board race in November have until June 21 to get their paperwork in to county election officials.
For political parties seeking to nominate candidates for County Board, there is a deadline of March 8 to inform state election officials of the method of nomination selected, then parties have until June 21 to formally nominate candidates (either through the state-run primary that day or through party-run means, such as a caucus or convention) and until June 27 to formally certify their nominees for the November ballot.
On that ballot in Arlington will be one County Board seat, currently occupied by Democrat Matt de Ferranti (who is expected to seek a new term) and one School Board seat, currently occupied by Barbara Kanninen (who already has announced she will not seek re-election).
Under state law, School Board races are officially nonpartisan, so political parties can’t use state-run primaries to select nominees. If a field of more candidates than spots on the ballot materializes in a given year, the Arlington County Democratic Committee generally uses several days of caucus voting to select its endorsees for the general-election School Board race.
On the County Board side? Should de Ferranti seek a second term, and should he pick up any opposition within the Democratic ranks, the Democratic Committee would conduct a vote among the rank-and-file on the method of nomination to be used. Democrats in recent years have tended to opt for a primary, but in some cases have gone another route.