Equality Arlington Grades 2026 County Board General Election Candidates
Equality Arlington sent the three candidates running for County Board in the November 2026 General Election a questionnaire with five questions about issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community in Arlington, Virginia. We received responses from two of the three candidates. The Board of Directors evaluated the candidates’ responses and provided grades for the candidates based on how well their responses demonstrate an understanding of the needs of the LGBTQ+ community and how their proposed actions or inaction would impact the LGBTQ+ community. We have also published the unedited responses of each of the candidates below.
Early voting began Friday, September 18th and continues through Saturday, October 31st. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd (polls open 6am-7pm). For more information about voting, please go to Elections – Arlington County VA Voting and Elections (arlingtonva.gov).
Matt de Ferranti: A
Matt de Ferranti, a Democrat running for Arlington County Board, received an A rating because the candidate cited examples of his past support for the LGBTQ+ community as a county board member and demonstrated an understanding of the issues in the questionnaire. De Ferranti’s response to the question about free STI testing demonstrated an in-depth understanding of existing policies and operations and proposed a specific policy solution addressing the needs facing LGBTQ+ residents. If de Ferranti is reelected, we look forward to seeing his efforts to implement the policy changes he outlined while working with the LGBTQ+ community to identify solutions to address new and continuing challenges to health, safety, and financial stability.
Audrey Clement: D
Audrey Clement, an Independent running for County Board, received a D rating because the candidate’s responses often failed to address the issue raised in the question or professed policy views that supported continued discrimination against transgender and nonbinary individuals. The candidate provided no specific examples of policies they would support to benefit LGBTQ+ community members except for free, county-funded STI testing. If Clement is elected, we hope she will take time to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender and nonbinary individuals, and reflect on how county board members can support marginalized individuals.
David Sisson: F
David Sisson, an Independent running for Arlington County Board, received an F rating because the candidate failed to respond to the questionnaire despite three attempts to contact the candidate.
Candidate Questionnaire & Responses
Question 1 – For Arlington residents in crisis, finding safe and accessible shelter is essential when faced with financial instability. For many transgender residents, finding emergency shelter that is safe from harassment, violence, or stigmatization is very challenging. What will you do as a county board member to ensure that transgender individuals, and members of all marginalized communities, have access to safe, affirming shelter when they need it most?
Audrey Clement (Independent) - Clarendon Courthouse residents have complained about the existence of and conditions at a homeless and open-air recreational drug use gathering place near the Courthouse Metro. The existence of such a hangout near Arlington’s principal shelter, the Homeless Services Center (HSC) at 2020A 14th Street North, raises questions about the operation of that facility. Others have complained about conditions in HSC itself. When elected, I will consult with Arlington police about the problem of vagrancy around the Courthouse area and ask the County Auditor to audit HSC.
Matthew de Ferranti (Democrat) - Our shelters are at capacity, so this is a unique challenge facing transgender and other marginalized residents and shelter as a whole for our unhoused is a concern. I will engage with our providers, Doorways, Path Forward, and Bridges to Independence and the Department of Human Services to make sure that care is appropriate. Each provider has a different history and focus, so engaging with each of them will be necessary for our unhoused. For transgender individuals who are facing financial instability, some may not be at imminent risk of being unhoused, but may need safe temporary shelter. Understanding the circumstances for each individual would require specific engagement with our Department of Human Services staff who, based on my impression, often provide appropriate counseling for our LGBTQ+ residents, but may not in all cases. Engagement to be certain is a step I would undertake as well.
David Sisson (Independent) - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.
Question 2 – The federal government has blocked Medicaid and CHIP payments for gender-affirming care for transgender individuals under the age of 19 and is taking steps to kick healthcare providers out of Medicare and Medicaid if they provide gender-affirming care to young people; the result is likely a significant loss of gender-affirming care throughout the country. Access to gender-affirming care for adults and young people was already challenging to find in Arlington and Northern Virginia but it is poised to become even harder to access. What will you do as a county board member to ensure that Arlington residents have access to gender-affirming care that allows them to live as their true selves?
Audrey Clement (Independent) - In deploring the Trump Administration’s recent decision to defund gender affirming care for minors through Medicaid and CHIP, the Washington Blade claimed that the American Medical Association (AMA), American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Psychological Association all affirmed its use in treating minors. However, both the AMA and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommend that gender affirming surgeries be delayed until adulthood. In light of this qualified support, I recommend that the Spanberger administration follow AMA guidelines in providing its own programmatic support for gender affirming care.
Matthew de Ferranti (Democrat) - Every Arlington resident, and indeed every person, deserves access to healthcare and to be treated with dignity and respect. I continue to be concerned about how the changes happening at the federal level are creating uncertainty for transgender individuals and limit access to care that they have relied upon. While the County Board cannot alter federal healthcare policy, Arlington can play an important role in ensuring that transgender people are connected to available resources and can advocate against the Trump Administration’s inhumane policies. As a County Board member, I will work with public health staff, healthcare providers, and community organizations to better understand the impact these changes are having on Arlington residents and find opportunities for solutions so that the County can to help address these gaps. I would also support efforts to ensure that County services as a whole are welcoming, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of transgender people and their families. More broadly, I will continue advocating for Arlington should always to be a place where all people, including LGBTQ+ residents, can live safely, access essential health care, and participate and belong fully in the community.
David Sisson (Independent) - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.
Question 3 – Many localities like the City of Alexandria and District of Columbia have invested local government resources in celebrating LGBTQ+ history and culture while also promoting the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ residents through government-sponsored Pride events and other programs. In these communities, the local government is a key partner in ensuring that LGBTQ+ individuals thrive. This reflects the government’s understanding of the economic, tourism, and tax benefits related to a robust and healthy LGBTQ+ community. As a county board member, will you work with the County Manager to ensure that county offices and departments recognize the value of celebrating the LGBTQ+ community through tourism marketing, cultural programming and events, and other county initiatives?
Audrey Clement (Independent) - As a county board member, I will promote outreach efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and will refrain from promoting divisive policies that fracture rather than unify minority communities.
Matthew de Ferranti (Democrat) - Yes. Recently I supported the hanging of the Transgender Quilt in the Boozman Center, providing a critical link to make sure we worked to get this important step done. I was not the only Board Member who did so, but I made it clear this was and is a priority and helped make sure it got done. DC had a unique role in World Pride and Equality Arlington advocated for additional steps, some of which Arlington County took. We also could have done more—I think advocates made a difference, but understand and agree there is more to do.
I have and will continue to make sure all our departments recognize the importance of celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Doing so means working with the County Manager and advocating to make sure we find the right ways to truly value and celebrate our community. Arlington has a solid history relative, certainly to the rest of Virginia, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do more and that we measure up to DC’s recent history. We must evaluate how we can better celebrate the LGBTQ+ community as we go forward.
David Sisson (Independent) - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.
Question 4 – In 2025, Equality Arlington sent a letter to the County Board with recommendations to improve access to Arlington’s public health division services and address existing application and eligibility barriers. The division’s STI Clinic is a critical tool in the fight to reduce infection rates for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). What will you do as a county board member to improve residents’ access to the STI Clinic? Will you support using county funds to make the STI clinic’s testing free for everyone?
Audrey Clement (Independent) - Given the threat that STI poses to public health, I support free STI testing. According to its website, that’s what Arlington County currently provides. It says: “No one is turned away.” If free STI testing is not available to all at the STI Clinic, then that’s another issue for the County Auditor to look at.
Matthew de Ferranti (Democrat) - I believe greater accountability is needed to make sure our services through our STI clinic are open to all. On October 15th, PREP treatment, a proven treatment that helps prevent AIDS for those infected with HIV, will be promoted broadly throughout our community. That step forward is one I supported with our Director of Public Health Dr. Parrish. It has been slower in arriving than it should have been, but the marketing effort is a step forward for the STI Clinic as a whole. I’ve visited the clinic and believe that staff does solid work.
I agree that STI testing should be accessible for all. Currently, I agree that it is not. If one has income challenges, it should be free. Proving income should be easy, and available via a simple request. I do believe wealthy Arlingtonians should have to pay a small fee, but that simply stating one is unable to pay should be sufficient. That is not the case now and we should change that via budget or policy.
David Sisson (Independent) - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.
Question 5 – While the Spanberger administration has made some progress reversing the prior administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives and policies, LGBTQ+ residents, especially transgender and nonbinary residents, remain under attack. The Trump administration continues to try to take away federal funding from Arlington Public Schools as punishment for their support for transgender and nonbinary students, the Youngkin administration’s discriminatory and anti-LGBTQ+ model school policies remain in effect, the Virginia High School League’s ban on transgender students playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity remains in place, and the Trump administration continues to attack transgender and nonbinary individuals for simply existing. What will you do as a county board member to ensure our General Assembly, Governor, and Attorney General protect and support LGBTQ+ residents in Arlington? What will you do to ensure that transgender and nonbinary residents feel safe to be their true selves?
Audrey Clement (Independent) - While I support transgender rights, I don’t think that discrimination against one recognized minority, namely female athletes, is the solution to discrimination against another recognized minority, namely transgender females. But that’s what Governor Abigail Spanberger did on July 30, 2026 when without public notice she rescinded a rule drafted by former Governor Glenn Youngkin that banned biological males from women’s sports, bathrooms and locker rooms.
The press speculated as to why no press release was issued on this signal reversal of women’s constitutional rights to privacy and association in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The likely answer is that the public is on the opposite side of the issue as the LGBTQ+ community. The vast majority agree that forcing female athletes to compete with others who are determined by objective scientific criteria to outclass them is unfair.
Such a policy is no different than compelling a featherweight boxer to compete with a middleweight boxer, a proposition that no fair-minded athletic association would ever consent to. The fact that some associations have signed on to such policies is testament to the persistence of sex discrimination in the United States.
Matthew de Ferranti (Democrat) - The Trump Administration has sought to attack Arlington Public Schools for standing with our transgender students, sending a letter threatening to take away Title 1 funding. That directly contradicts Arlington values and is, in my view, illegal. If a Court were to get the law wrong, I would be ready to commit Arlington County funds to close that gap for a year or two, until the law is properly interpreted. I told School Board Members that and stand by it.
I will continue to engage with our Arlington Delegation on the importance of full inclusion and belonging for our transgender students. If and as necessary, I will engage with the Attorney General and Governor on these issues as well. I believe part of making sure transgender and nonbinary students feel safe is listening and affirming their dignity. I’ve engage with families before and hope to do so again if afforded the opportunity to serve over the coming years.
David Sisson (Independent) - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.
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Click here to view the PDF candidate grades and responses