Fairfax city elects first female mayor
By Jimmy Henderson Fairfax, VA—Late-comer candidate Catherine Read defeated Sang Yi in Fairfax to become the city’s first female to serve as mayor. Early and absentee votes favored Read by 9 to 14 percent. Yi won five precincts, closing Read’s lead until the eighth precinct tallies came in, solidifying her victory. Late returns from eight of nine precincts reported in with a total of 4,757 votes for Read (50.45 percent) and 4,639 votes for Yi (49.19 percent), and 34 write-ins on election night. The vote count reached a decision for the city with Read ahead by a margin of 1.26 percent and one precinct left to count. By then, Yi fell short of the range for a recount. With all nine precincts now tallied, Read has defeated Yi by a margin of 1.48 percent, with 50.56 percent of the vote (4,793). Some of Read’s supporters questioned the integrity of a sample ballot issued that listed Yi on an independent card. On the other hand, Jacob Downs, a spokesperson for Yi’s cam...