The surprise is the margin, not the outcome. In my precinct the most common grouping of signs were pairs of Libby and Emma signs. I think Arlingtonians wanted to clearly show that this is not PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY!

"The biggest surprise of the evening from my perspective was the margins of victory for Violand-Sanchez and Garvey."

Right!  And thanks for posting the results. You had a real scoop on Arlington Dems and others sites I was monitoring for the results!

Go Libby!

And go Arlington Dems! We fell just a few ballots short of the Guam caucus which was also today!

The school board should not be the place to start a political career.  Those who thought that were making a mistake.

I'm proud of the way this turned out, because it says that experience in education is more important than experience in county politics.

This caucus was not rocket science; just look at the resumes.  Libby has more experience on the board than all the other existing board members put together.  Emma has a lifetime of dedication to education.  These two candidates really should be on the school board.

Who else came close?

I can't agree less with your comments.

As someone who has had significant dealings with the school board, I can attest that Libby has great charm.  However, her agenda primarily has been to give the superintendent what he wants.

We need an independent school board.  I'm grateful that we finally have one now, and wish we could have taken a further step in that direction in the election.

Karla Hagan was treasurer of Fendley's campaign and managed Sally Baird's campaign (or maybe it's the other way around). Ed, Sally and Abby pushed soooo hard for Hagan and had the audacity to say she would be an independent voice. All four came up through the all-too-powerful Arlington Dem machine and know about politics, not education.

The voters caught on and took action.

We need a school board--NOT a school clique where the REAL board meetings are held in somebody's kitchen and things are just ratified in public.

It was particularly tacky of Chairman Ed to call a school board meeting for May 1. By amazing coincidence, that's when the "endorsement" voting began, meaning the lone incumbent seeking re-election--the one opposed by the chairman (and vice chair and another member--couldn't stay to meet voters at the polling site while all the others could.

Thankfully the results say this little trick didn't matter.

... but the school-board meetings are arranged several months in advance.  So your Fendley theory does not hold up.

This was a win for diversity and experience.

Current members of the Arlington School Board, with support from other ACDC honchos, tried to shove an inexperienced, flawed candidate down the throats of the voters--another one of their own.

The one-party machine in Arlington shouldn't be determining school board races. The children of Arlington should not be political playthings. Their educations are too important.

Are you implying that all four candidates who did not win are "flawed" and "inexperienced"?  If so, you're being ridiculous.  Remember, more people voted for those 4 combined that for either of the winners.

Every single candidate in the race had something to offer in terms of resume and background.  Each was in the top 1 percent in terms of personal achievement.

Ultimately this was a vote on the order "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".  Both Garvey and Violand-Sanchez have roots in the county's school system that go back decades.  We know pretty well what we're getting.  I don't think any of the other candidates though necessarily would have been "flawed" as a board member.  

From the Sun Gazette: "Violand-Sanchez and Garvey ran as an informal team, a strategy that paid off: nearly 1,650 caucus participants used their two votes to cast ballots for them both."

Who had the machine behind them?

Were the results not covered in today's Washington Post at all? I can't find them on the Post website.

i think she would make more of a positive impact than sanchez will. maybe sometime in the future.  

Way to kick the losers while they're down.

Have you all seen the comments on the Sun Gazette's article? Really nasty stuff.

Karla Hagan would been a great addition (I have worked with her in the past and greatly enjoyed the experience).  I hope she'll try again.

What's that got to do with school board?

You're being scurrilous....

I voted for Hagan and Goldstein and stood in line an hour Thursday to do so.  Hope it was worth it.  The really lopsided results are...weird.  I was expecting at least Hagan to win.