Armstrong drops appeal of Democratic endorsement process
Members of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee voted 99-97 to endorse Ryan McElveen over Armstrong during the group’s July meeting. Armstrong later announced plans to appeal that vote, charging there were procedural irregularities, a lack of ballot security, and the possibility that some people voted more than once.
On Aug. 11 Armstrong announced, “I’ve made the difficult decision to end my campaign for the Fairfax County School Board. I believe that it is critical that we come together and move forward in this campaign united, and work together to elect Democrats.”
While she says, “I still believe there were problems with the endorsement process,” Armstrong vowed to support the Democratic school board candidates. She says, the Democratic candidates “are more committed to closing the achievement gap once and for all, reforming our discipline policy, and ensuring fiscal responsibility and that our teachers are well-paid and treated with respect.”
She also announced she would convert her campaign into a political action committee to help bolster minority turnout for Democrats across Fairfax County. “As an African American woman who grew up and went to school in the early, post-Voting Rights Act years in the South,” she says, “making sure minority voters turn out to vote and exercise their franchise is something that is very important to me.”
