[Jean Valjean]

UPDATE:

Inside Nova Wrote:

O’Grady topples incumbent Lander in Arlington School Board caucus

Schools activist Monique O’Grady defeated incumbent School Board member James Lander in the Arlington County Democratic Committee endorsement caucus, which wrapped up three days of voting May 13.

O’Grady won 59 percent of the vote in the second round of the caucus, after candidate Maura McMahon had been eliminated and her votes reallocated between the two remaining candidates, Democratic officials said.

In the first round of voting, O’Grady had won 45.9 percent of the 5,970 votes cast, with Lander taking 35.5 percent and McMahon 16.2 percent.

In the second round, with McMahon eliminated, most of her her voters gravitated to O’Grady, who picked up 698 votes. Lander garnered just 217 of them.

O’Grady now moves on to the general election, where she will face Mike Webb and, potentially, other candidates.

Lander, who is in his second four-year term on the School Board, becomes the first incumbent Arlington Democrat to be knocked off in a party-nominating process in recent years. Four years ago, he narrowly survived a challenge from Barbara Kanninen, winning 51 percent of the vote. Kanninen went on to win a School Board seat the following year.

Lander’s term runs through Dec. 31.