Simone Pass Tucker is running as an openly non-binary person for the Falls Church City Council in the city’s Nov. 3 election. If elected, they would become the first non-binary candidate to take office in Virginia history and only the second in the history of the country. 

Tucker, a 22-year-old Falls Church native, is running as a progressive candidate with a platform of turning the city into the model of what a “little city” could look like. 

According to their website, they hope to bring greener technology to the city and cheaper housing through subsidy programs. They also vow to reform policing in Falls Church by shifting officers’ focus to community building and away from “predatory measures”.

“Falls Church City is unique in our location and size, and I believe we have the ability to pave the way for what small progressive cities should be like,” their website states. “If elected, I pledge to be a voice for the voiceless in Falls Church. Let’s do better.”

Tucker is running against Falls Church Education Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hiscott and Josh Shokoor, a member of the city’s Housing Commission, to fill the council vacancy created by the death of Councillor Dan Sze in July. 

According to their website, Tucker became active in politics as a child when they joined their parents to knock on doors for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012. They went on to become involved in activism around reproductive rights, Middle East peace, and environmental justice during their college years at North Carolina State University and the College of William and Mary.

“Simone’s vision for Falls Church is one that emphasizes sustainability, helping build a community by, and for, its residents, one in which generations can prosper in our beautiful small town not just now but decades down the line,” Tucker’s campaign manager Benjamin Lotto said in an email to the Washington Blade. “They want to help foster the charm and creativity that makes them and so many Falls Church residents unwaveringly proud of their city.” 

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