From Mark Levine to Kristin Hoffman: What Alexandria voters wrote in for House of Delegates District 5
Nearly 1,700 voters rejected the lack of choice in state legislative race
Elizabeth Bennett-Parker ran unopposed for her third term representing House of Delegates District 5 in the November 4 election, winning with 33,909 votes. But 1,693 Alexandria voters—4.8% of all votes cast—chose to write in someone else entirely.
Unlike the protest votes in the Sheriff race or the generic rejection in the Commonwealth’s Attorney race, these write-ins included a surprising number of actual political figures—including the former delegate Bennett-Parker defeated four years ago.
The ghost of primaries past
The most striking write-in: Mark Levine, the incumbent delegate Bennett-Parker defeated in the June 2021 Democratic primary.
Levine, who represented the district (then numbered 45) from 2015 to 2021, lost his seat when he simultaneously ran for lieutenant governor while facing a primary challenge from Bennett-Parker. She defeated him with 59% of the vote.
His appearance as a write-in four years later suggests some voters still preferred the former delegate—or at least wanted to signal their discontent with having no alternative to Bennett-Parker on the ballot.
National and statewide political figures
Several voters wrote in prominent politicians:
Presidential/national level:
Donald Trump / Donald J. Trump (appearing multiple times)
Kamala Harris
Neighboring districts:
Kristin Hoffman (the Republican candidate running in neighboring House District 6 against incumbent Rip Sullivan)
The Hoffman write-ins are particularly telling—she was on the ballot just one district over, suggesting some District 5 voters wished they had a Republican option like their neighbors.
Rejection votes
Many voters explicitly rejected the lack of choice:
“Other” (appearing multiple times)
“N/A”
Blank write-ins with filled bubbles
Personal names
The majority of write-ins appear to be personal names:
Chris Howell
Allen Young
Anthony Priest
Jessica Gallaway
Joseph Mama (possibly a joke name)
Alan Younk
Terrel Austin
And many others
These likely represent friends, family members, or people voters wished were running—or simply names written in frustration at having no real choice.
Voting methods
The 1,693 write-ins for House of Delegates District 5 came through:
602 in early voting (36%)
938 on Election Day (55%)
112 by mail (7%)
32 provisional (2%)
9 post-election (1%)
Virginia write-in law
For a write-in vote to count toward a candidate’s official total in Virginia, that person must register as a write-in candidate with the state before the election. Since none of these write-in candidates registered, their votes are tallied and recorded but don’t affect the official outcome.
The votes are preserved in these write-in assignment documents for transparency and to comply with state election record-keeping requirements.
METHODOLOGY NOTE: This analysis is based on my review of Alexandria’s official write-in assignment document from the Nov. 4, 2025, general election for House of Delegates District 5, which contains images of write-in ballots requiring adjudication. The document shows 1,683 ballot images across 130 pages. The official results show 1,693 total write-in votes, with the 10-vote difference likely representing write-ins that were clearly legible and didn’t require adjudication review. Some handwriting was difficult to decipher, and some names may be spelled phonetically. All totals are from official Alexandria election results.
