She came up short two years ago, but it appears Miranda Turner is headed to the Arlington School Board at the start of 2024.
Turner won a lopsided victory over Angelo Cocchiaro in the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s School Board caucus, held over the past week with three days of in-person voting.
Turner received 1,004 votes to 332 for Cocchiaro, according to results released by the committee. Seven ballots were cast with no vote, Democratic officials said.
Having picked up the Democratic endorsement, Turner is all but assured a general-election victory in November. The final ballot for that race will not be known until the filing deadline in late June.
The winner of the general election will succeed Reid Goldstein, who is retiring after having served two four-year terms and currently is both board chair and has the most seniority.
“If elected in November, I will have a laser focus on instruction and provide an excellent education for all students,” Turner said in a statement released after the votes had been tallied and results reported. “I will advocate for measures to help close the achievement gap, address the needs of our diverse student population, and promote policies that support the well-being and academic achievement of all students in APS.”
Cocchiaro took the defeat with grace, endorsing Turner.
“I look forward to doing all I can to support her campaign, and our full Democratic ticket, this summer and fall,” he said in a statement.
Under Virginia state law, school board seats officially are nonpartisan and political parties are not allowed to formally nominate candidates. But they can “endorse” candidacies, which often amounts to the same thing. All five current School Board members received the Democratic endorsement before going on to general-election victories.
Turner in 2021 ran in the Democratic caucus on a platform that was somewhat critical of the School Board’s extensive COVID-era lockdowns. That race was won by Mary Kadera, who had emerged as the Democratic establishment’s choice for the post.
This time, that same establishment was split, with some supporting Turner and others backing Cocchiaro, an activist in his early 20s. The final vote proved a defeat for the Arlington Education Association, which backed Cocchiaro, albeit late in the process.
And while Cocchiaro may have fallen short by a lopsided margin, don’t count him out for the future. Arlington Democrats have in the past had a tendency to reject a candidate on his/her first run, only to nominate him/ her in a subsequent race.
Meg Flores, who served as director of the caucus, said the process went well.
“It takes a village to make this process run smoothly,” she said in a statement. “I want to thank the whole Arlington Democrats organization, including the many volunteers who facilitated the process this week.”
Over the past 18 months, the Democrats’ caucus process came under fire from some, including the Arlington NAACP. In response, the process was tweaked and a more extensive community-engagement process was held, although Democrats – citing costs and logistics – opted not to have an online-voting option this year.
“I am pleased that the Arlington Democrats ran an expanded process and that we now have an endorsee,” party chair Steve Baker said in a statement. “I am confident our School Board will continue to make certain that all of our students have access to a great education in a safe and inclusive environment.”
With the School Board contest out of the way, the local political world now turns its attention to the June 20 Democratic primary as well as the general-election filing deadline, slated for the same day.
And while Cocchiaro may have fallen short by a lopsided margin, don’t count him out for the future. Arlington Democrats over the years have had a tendency to reject a candidate on his/her first run, only to nominate him/ her in a subsequent race.
