DeMarco the Only 'Official' 2012 Council Candidate

So far there's only one Fairfax City Council candidate who has his paperwork turned into the city's registrar to run in the 2012 election.

Michael DeMarco, Fairfax City resident and chairman of the city's Economic Development Authority, is officially on the ballot. This is his second time running for council.

But he'll have some competition. 

"Catherine Read and Scott Silverthorne have filed a Certificate of Qualification, which basically states that if they were to run for local office, they meet the legal qualifications to be a candidate which we have verified," said General Registrar Kevin Linehan. "However, this is a pretty good indication they intend to run."

Current council members Dan Drummond and Silverthorne made their campaign announcements earlier this month. Drummond seeks another turn on the council while Silverthorne is upping the ante and running to replace the retiring current mayor Rob Lederer.

Read has talked about running this year, however she has yet to make an official announcement. 

Conversations and speculation are all well and good, but it doesn't put a person on the ballot, Linehan said.

The deadline for all candidate paperwork is 7 p.m. on March 6. Check Patch for regular updates leading up to the election.

And in the meantime, check out these facts from Fairfax City's 2010 council election.

Top 2010 Election Vote-Getters
(bolded candidates were elected)

• Steven Stombres: 14.7 percent with 1,778 votes
• David Meyer: 14.1 percent with 1,705 votes
• Jeffrey Greenfield: 13.3 percent with 1,608 votes
• Eleanor Schmidt: 13.2 percent with 1,602 votes
• Joan Cross: 12.9 percent with 1,561 votes
• Daniel Drummond: 12.5 percent with 1,517 votes
• Michael DeMarco: 11.3 percent with 1,363 votes
• Cristina Lee Gaines: 4.4 percent with 528 votes
• Gerald T "Jerry" O'Dell: 3.2 percent with 392 votes
• Gary Rasmussen: 0 percent, withdrew from race

Top 2010 Campaign Fund-Raisers
(bolded candidates were elected) 

• Steven Stombres: $29,364
• Daniel Drummond: $23,468
• Eleanor Schmidt: $18,281
• Joan Cross: $7,558
• Gerald T "Jerry" O'Dell: $7,254
• Michael DeMarco: $7,135
• Gary Rasmussen: $6,275, withdrew from race
• David Meyer: $6,009
• Jeffrey Greenfield: $5,421
• Cristina Lee Gaines: $442

Things to Note:

• Stombres and Meyer, the two most-voted candidates in the 2010 election tied for first in 2008. Both ended that election with 1,974 votes.
• O'Dell improved on his 2008 campaign by one vote. He received 391 votes in 2008 and 392 votes in 2010.
• Four candidates who ran in 2008 did not try it again in 2010: William G. "Bill" Foster, Kim C. Luckabaugh, Willie Randy Myers and Patrice M. Winter.
• Rasmussen won in 2008, but dropped out of the 2010 election.
• Stombres raised the most campaign funds in both elections. He was the most-voted (or close to it, with his 2008 tie) candidate in both elections.
• Drummond raised the second most campaign funds in both elections. He also received the least number of votes of all the elected candidates in both elections.
• All of the incumbents were re-elected in the 2010 election. Patrice Winter was the only incumbent not to win another term in the 2008 election.
• Click here to see 2008 election data.

Information from The Virginia Public Access Project