While results of the June 21 8th District congressional primary are most likely a foregone conclusion, they still are likely to provide a way for the party to recruit volunteers for November.
Precinct captains for the party currently are on the hunt for poll greeters who can be deployed at precincts during the primary from 7 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., providing voters with information about volunteer opportunities in the coming general election.
Such events are “really fertile ground for us,” one party leader said, joking that if people don’t volunteer, “we will be hunting you down” to fill out the roster.
The June 21 primary features incumbent U.S. Rep. Don Beyer facing challenger Victoria Virasingh in a race that is not expected to be particularly competitive. No other races, Democrat or Republican, are on the ballot that day in Arlington.
(The poll greeters will interact with voters after they have cast ballots, and will not be affiliated with the campaigns of either Beyer or Virasingh, who will be able to deploy their own supporters to speak with voters on their way into polling places.)
With no statewide races on the ballot in November, and with the Arlington-elections for County Board and School Board likely to be lopsided affairs, why would Arlington Democrats seek more volunteers? One reason is the party’s expanding efforts to assist in other races, both downstate and nationally, where Democrats may find themselves imperiled and the threat of a Republican wave election is at least a possibility.