Updated at 9:53 p.m.
FALLS CHURCH, VA — The Falls Church City Council was one of the races on the ballot for City of Falls Church voters on Tuesday, and unofficial vote tallies show Vice Mayor Letty Hardi, Erin Flynn and Justine Underhill leading. (See real-time election results at the bottom of this story.)
Three of seven City Council seats were on the ballot, and four candidates are running in the general election. Hardi is the only incumbent running for re-election, as Mayor David Tarter and Councilmember Phil Duncan are not seeking re-election. The other candidates are Planning Commission Chair Tim Stevens, Falls Church Housing Commission member Underhill and federal attorney Flynn.
Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
With all of the city’s three voting wards reporting, Hardi has 26.57 percent of votes, Flynn has 25.72 percent, Underhill has 24.90 percent and Stevens has 21.52 percent. The vote tallies do not include provisional ballots. Election results are unofficial until certified by the state board of elections.
City Council members are elected at large for four-year terms and set policies for the city government, including an annual budget, tax rates and capital project schedules. Elected Council members will select a new mayor and vice mayor.
Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
City Council members not up for re-election this year are Marybeth Connelly, Debbie Hiscott, Caroline Lian and David Snyder.
At the Falls Church Community Center polling place, City Council candidates shared with Patch what issues voters have prioritized.
“In general, the city gets to decide every two years about the direction of the city,” Vice Mayor Letty Hardi, who is seeking re-election, told Patch. “For people who care about housing, transportation and climate change, those are ones that are important to me and ones that I believe the key voters rally around.”
“I think it’s whether we look forward and try to continue the good work that’s been accomplished over the last 10 years versus looking back,” added Tim Stevens, the Falls Church Planning Commission chair seeking election to City Council.
Erin Flynn, a federal attorney seeking election to City Council, told Patch she’s most often heard concerns about the “pace and scale of growth” and whether the infrastructure can handle it. Another key issue she prioritizes is ensuring capital projects are delivered.
“I think people are looking to see kind of tangible deliveries on those sorts of things,” said Flynn. “So it’s something that I am interested in maintaining strong, effective oversight to make sure that the community sees those things.”
Justine Underhill, a journalist and member of Falls Church’s Housing Commission running for City Council, shared priorities of improving walking and biking and diverse housing options.
“People have been very positive, I think, and really interested in addressing these issues,” Underhill told Patch.
Other City of Falls Church races include three Falls Church School Board seats, Virginia Senate 37th District, Virginia House 13th District, Arlington County/Falls Church City Commonwealth’s Attorney and Arlington County Clerk of Court.
Unofficial election results will start to come in on the Virginia Department of Elections website after polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Follow Patch on Election Day for live coverage of the Falls Church City Council election and other races.
For more information about voting in Falls Church, visit www.fallschurchva.gov/135/Voter-Registration-Elections.
Real-time results are below — use the scroll on the right if all races are not visible. Patch will be updating the results throughout the night as votes are tallied — be sure to refresh the page for the latest updates.
Can’t see the widget below? Click here for all Virginia election results.
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