Having served four years in a pivotal yet not always public-facing role within the Arlington County Democratic Committee, Maggie Davis on Jan. 5 stepped into the spotlight to deliver valedictory remarks as she departed the post of deputy chair.
But it was as much a forward-looking address as one that glimpsed backward.
“I have real excitement for where the party is going to go next,” said Davis, who won two two-year terms as deputy chair but opted not to seek re-election or the chair’s position this year. She will be succeeded as deputy chair by Michael Hemminger.
Arlington Democrats are blessed with “a great team of people and processes that are going to make the party thrive,” Davis said in remarks at Lubber Run Community Center.
Davis was serving as president of Arlington Young Democrats when, in 2017, she ran for the No. 2 position in the Democratic Committee. She came in with, and departs with, party chair Jill Caiazzo.
“I have been really, really privileged working with her, side by side, for four years,” Davis said during remarks at the board’s biennial reorganization meeting.
The appreciation was returned by Caiazzo, who said Davis “has been a true partner to me during this four-year journey.”
In her own valedictory remarks, the outgoing chair noted her tenure began in the early days of the Trump administration and was ending with an incoming Republican governor.
Despite the roller-coaster ride at the state and national levels, Arlington Democrats kept their heads and stayed focused on the task in front of them, Caiazzo said.
“We banded together. We turned to each other. We innovated. We persevered, continually raising the bar,” she said.
(Among the many she thanked, Caiazzo singled out her husband, Matt Weinstein, remarking that “he never gets any credit.” She noted that they first met at Democratic precinct-captain training. “See, you can find love at Arlington Democrats,” she noted.)
Neither Davis nor Caiazzo has given an indication of what their political futures might hold, but the outgoing party chair said she hoped her tenure at the helm was a defining moment in her life.
“I appreciate the opportunity to have made a difference,” Caiazzo said. “I have tried to leave the place just a little bit better.”