McPike joins House District 5 race, setting up contested primary
Councilman's entry would trigger another special election if he wins
Alexandria City Councilman Kirk McPike on Wednesday announced he is running for House District 5, setting up a contested firehouse primary with former School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera for Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker’s seat.
“Elizabeth Bennett-Parker’s victory means that there will be a Democratic Firehouse Primary for the 5th District in the House of Delegates,” McPike wrote on social media. “I’m officially announcing that I will be a candidate in that election!”
Rivera announced her candidacy earlier Wednesday, hours after Bennett-Parker’s commanding win in the Senate primary.
McPike launched with an endorsement from Rep. Don Beyer, whose 8th Congressional District includes Alexandria.
“I’m proud to support Democrat Kirk McPike for the 5th House of Delegates District, just as I was proud to support him in both of his campaigns and four years of service for the Alexandria City Council,” Beyer said. “Kirk has a proven track record of delivering results for Alexandrians.”
McPike emphasized his experience on Capitol Hill and in Richmond.
“Our next Delegate in Richmond will need to hit the ground running,” McPike said. “I believe that my thirteen years working to advance progressive legislation and Democratic priorities as Chief of Staff for Congressman Mark Takano, my four years of service on the Alexandria City Council and its Legislative Subcommittee, my work on affordable housing and budget issues on Alexandria City commissions, and my two sessions of service as a Chief of Staff in a state legislature give me the skills I will need to deliver for our community on day one.”
McPike has deep ties to this seat’s lineage — he came to Alexandria in 2010 to run Adam Ebbin’s first Senate campaign. Ebbin held the House seat before moving to the Senate; Bennett-Parker succeeded Mark Levine, who had succeeded Ebbin.
If McPike wins, his departure from Council would trigger yet another special election. Under Alexandria’s charter, in-term council vacancies are filled by special election — likely in the summer or on the November 3 general election ballot.
The seat is not yet vacant — Bennett-Parker must first win the Feb. 10 special election against Republican Julie Lineberry. But House District 5 is solidly Democratic: presidential and senatorial nominees carried it by double-digit margins in 2024, and Bennett-Parker ran unopposed in her last two elections.
House District 5 covers portions of Alexandria, stretching from Old Town through Del Ray and Carlyle to the Eisenhower Valley corridor.
No date has been set for the firehouse primary. Alexandria Democratic Committee Chair Jon DeNunzio said when the writ of election comes down, the party will hold a primary to select a nominee.
