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Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker’s commanding Senate primary win on Tuesday puts her on track to join the Virginia Senate — but first, she must win the Feb. 10 special election against Republican Julie Robbens Lineberry.
If she does, it could set off a chain of events that sees Alexandria voters heading to the polls multiple times in 2026.
Here’s what we know about the path ahead.
Update: Friday, January 16 - The Alexandria Democratic Committee announced Friday that it will hold a firehouse primary on Tuesday, January 20, to select the Democratic nominee for House District 5.
A transition in Richmond
The political backdrop is shifting rapidly. Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers his final State of the Commonwealth address this evening. Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger will be sworn in Saturday, ushering in Virginia’s first Democratic trifecta since 2021.
Feb. 10: Senate District 39 special election
Bennett-Parker will face Lineberry in the Feb. 10 special election to fill Adam Ebbin’s seat. Early voting runs Jan. 31 through Feb. 7; the deadline to register is Feb. 3.
Ebbin’s resignation doesn’t take effect until Feb. 18 — he announced last week he would remain in office through “crossover,” the midpoint of the legislative session, before joining Spanberger’s administration as senior adviser at the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
The stakes are high: Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Virginia Senate. Until a Democrat is seated in District 39, the party will be operating with a 20-19 margin.
District 39 — which includes all of Alexandria and portions of Arlington and Fairfax County — leans heavily Democratic. Ebbin ran unopposed in his last two elections.
Feb. 10 Special Election — Key Dates:
- Jan. 30: Deadline to request a mail ballot (5 p.m.)
- Jan. 31 - Feb. 7: Early in-person voting
- Feb. 3: Voter registration deadline
- Feb. 10: Election Day
Ryan Belmore
Ryan Belmore
House District 5: Another special election if Bennett-Parker wins
If Bennett-Parker wins on Feb. 10, she would be sworn into the Senate after Ebbin’s Feb. 18 resignation takes effect, and her House of Delegates seat would become vacant. (If she loses, she remains in the House and no vacancy occurs.)
House District 5 is entirely within Alexandria, stretching from Old Town through Del Ray and Carlyle to the Eisenhower Valley corridor.
Because the General Assembly will still be in session, House Speaker Don Scott — not the Governor — would issue the writ of election. Under Virginia law, if a vacancy occurs between Dec. 10 and March 1, the writ must declare a special election date within 30 days of the vacancy.
That timeline could place a House District 5 election in late March or April. Virginia law prohibits special elections within 55 days of a primary or general election, but allows them to coincide with other elections on the same day — meaning a House District 5 vote could potentially land on the same ballot as the constitutional amendments Democrats are advancing.
Bennett-Parker would continue representing House District 5 until she's sworn into the Senate. But if the district's special election can't be held until April, it would go unrepresented for the final weeks of the legislative session, which typically ends in mid-March
Could it land on an April constitutional amendment ballot?
Virginia Democrats say that they are advancing four constitutional amendments this session — all of which already passed once last year and need a second vote this session before going to voters:
- Redistricting: Would allow the General Assembly to redraw congressional maps mid-decade in response to gerrymandering in other states
- Reproductive freedom: Would enshrine abortion rights, contraception access and IVF protections
- Voting rights: Would automatically restore voting rights to felons after completing their sentences (Bennett-Parker is the House patron)
- Marriage equality: Would remove the unconstitutional same-sex marriage ban from Virginia’s constitution (Ebbin is the Senate patron)
The redistricting amendment is the most time-sensitive. If Democrats want new congressional maps in place for the 2026 midterms, voters must approve the amendment before the June 16 primary filing deadline. That means holding a referendum as early as possible.
Under Virginia law, a referendum can occur no earlier than 90 days after final passage. If the General Assembly approves the amendments when the session convenes Wednesday, the earliest possible vote would be mid-April — Virginia’s first special ballot measure election since 1956, according to Ballotpedia.
At Monday’s debate, the three candidates split on timing. Bennett-Parker expressed caution about rushing all four amendments to an April ballot.
“I have the honor of carrying the amendment to provide a fundamental right to vote, as well as to automatically restore voting rights after incarceration,” she said. “I want them to get done as quickly as possible. I also want them to get done. We need to make sure that the voters are informed.”
Levine and Costen-Sumpter favored the earliest possible timeline.
If Democrats do schedule an April referendum, a House District 5 special election could potentially be placed on the same ballot — boosting turnout for both.
Ryan Belmore
Who’s running for House District 5?
Two candidates announced their bids Wednesday, hours after Bennett-Parker’s primary win.
Former Alexandria School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera was first to announce. Rivera served in the Clinton Administration at the Commerce Department and Small Business Administration, and also worked as a spokesperson for the Peace Corps. She cited affordable housing, school funding, climate protection and support for the federal workforce as priorities.
Ryan Belmore
Alexandria City Councilman Kirk McPike announced his candidacy later in the day, launching with an endorsement from Rep. Don Beyer.
“Our next Delegate in Richmond will need to hit the ground running,” McPike said, citing his 13 years as Chief of Staff for Congressman Mark Takano and four years on City Council.
McPike has deep ties to this seat’s lineage — he came to Alexandria in 2010 to run Adam Ebbin’s first Senate campaign.
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.
Ryan Belmore
Alexandria Democratic Committee Chair Jon DeNunzio said when the writ of election comes down, the party will hold a firehouse primary to select a nominee.
The bottom line
Depending on how events unfold, Alexandria voters could head to the polls as many as six times in 2026:
- Jan. 13: Senate District 39 firehouse primary
- Feb. 10: Senate District 39 special election
- April (potential): House District 5 special election + constitutional amendments
- June 17: Primary elections
- Summer or Nov. 3 (potential): City Council special election
- Nov. 3: General election — including U.S. Sen. Mark Warner’s re-election bid and all 11 U.S. House seats, potentially with redrawn maps if the redistricting amendment passes
The compressed timeline that candidates criticized as a “travesty of democracy” at Monday’s debate may be far from over.
This story will be updated as the timeline becomes clearer.
