Mark Kelly, the Republican nominee for Arlington Clerk of Court, had a miserable night last night. In a debate with Democrat Paul Ferguson sponsored by the Lyon Village Citizens Association, Kelly looked dour and defensive as he noticed several supporters of Paul Ferguson in the audience.
In response to a request from Peter Rousselot to not engage in any more negative personal attacks on Paul Ferguson, Mark Kelly acknowledged he had "crossed the line" in previous attacks on Paul Ferguson, but declined to promise to stop - saying he was "desperate" to get some sort of traction in his campaign against the more popular and highly regarded Paul Ferguson. Additionally, when I thanked Mark Kelly for campaigning in Falls Church, but pointed out that his campaign had been handing out literature at schools in Arlington and Falls Church and that several parents had objected to this campaign tactic as politicizing our schools, Mark Kelly first denied he had done this, then said he was unaware of the tactic, and lastly said he was "sorry" if he had campaigned on schools but would only promise not to hand out literature "only on school grounds" but not around school events or just off school grounds. Paul Ferguson, who had an outstanding presentation which really clicked with the tone of the room, noted that he does not campaign at schools and graciously suggested that perhaps Mark Kelly was unaware of the longstanding tradition in Arlington and Falls Church about not politicizing school activities and suggested Mark Kelly had been poorly advised by his campaign staff.
Mark Kelly has been attacking the mild mannered Paul Ferguson at previous community debates and did not respond well when confronted about this tactic. Mark Kelly even forgot to make his standard closing remarks and left the hall early in his rush to get away from the event.
