MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast, a new legal frontier, same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships and family law, but first, new power dynamics in the Alexandria Democratic Party. Primary elections are scheduled to take place in Virginia on June 12. And nowhere are they likely to be more complicated than in Alexandria, where several rivaling factions have organized under the banners of divisive issues, most notably development.

MR. KOJO NNAMDISome Democrats favor more density. Others are sore from the ongoing debate about the future of Alexandria's waterfront. And they're all trying to tip the balance of power on the Alexandria City Council in their favor. Joining us to sort through all of the commotion and preview the upcoming primary is Michael Pope. He's a reporter with WAMU 88.5 and the Connection Newspapers. He's also the author of the book "Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C." Michael Pope, always a pleasure.

MR. MICHAEL POPEThank you very much.

NNAMDIIt's a conversation you can join by calling 800-433-8850. Are you an Alexandria voter? Have you been confused by all of the intraparty warfare going into next month's primary? 800-433-8850. What intraparty warfare you may ask? Well, listen if you're trying to follow the upcoming Alexandria primary, you're getting hit with the names of all kinds of slates using different spins on different buzz words -- Democrats for a Better Alexandria, Securing Alexandria's Future.

NNAMDIWho are these groups? How and why did they form? And what do they say about the current state of the Alexandria Democratic Party? Michael, how much of this division has to do with the fights over the future of the waterfront?

POPEThe waterfront is certainly one of the most divisive issues between these candidates, but not the only one. There are actually a handful of issues where these candidates actually disagree on major issues confronting the city.

NNAMDIIt's my understanding that at least one of these slates is only endorsing non-incumbent candidates.

POPEYes. That's right. There is a concern among many -- well, let me back up and say the Democratic Party in general in Alexandria has sort of separated into factions. There are factions of Democrats that don't like the direction the city has taken recently. And there is also a very prominent faction that is very happy with the way the city has been governed in recent years and its support of the incumbents and the candidates that are most like the incumbents.

NNAMDIWell, let's talk about the factions by name. One side of the spectrum, Securing Alexandria's Future, who is that?

POPESo that is a group -- I was actually having lunch with one of the people involved in that, and I was sort of running it by her, different ways that you could describe this group. And she thought it was fair to say the insiders. These are people that have been closely aligned with the city's political persuasion for many years, including former elected officials.

POPEThere's a former city manager that's part of the group, the former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, that sort of individual. They're very happy with the way the city has been run and, for the most part, would agree with the waterfront plan, for example. That's sort of a good benchmark to use in terms of where these slates fall down.

NNAMDIWho is Alexandrians for a Livable City?

POPEThat is probably the most anti-incumbent. And that was actually -- it's interesting 'cause there are four different political action committees that have emerged in recent days. Alexandrians for a Livable City was the first to announce a slate of candidates. But, interestingly, most of these were in response to a group known as Democrats for a Better Alexandria that has been talking about coming together, forming a political action committee, endorsing candidates.

POPEAnd so what you saw is, because that conversation was happening, all these other factions of Democrats say, hey, wait, what about me? I want to form a political action committee, too. And so it sort of has gotten to a point now where there's a handful of these things.

NNAMDIIs there any history or precedent of slates organizing to support candidates in Alexandria? Do you have a sense of how this might influence the results of the June 12 primary?

POPESo the history is really interesting here because this primary that's going to happen on June 12 is the first of its kind. For many years, the city elections have taken place in May. As a matter of fact, if you look at the history of Alexandria, dating back to the earliest days in 1780s, there has always been a separate city election that took place at a different time than November early in the year.

POPESometimes, it's in March. Sometimes, it's in May. So this will be the first time ever in the -- the very long history of the city that the local elected officials will find themselves on the ballot in a November election.

NNAMDI800-433-8850 is our number. Our guest is Michael Pope. He's a reporter with WAMU 88.5 and the Connection, and author of the book "Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C." You can also send email to kojo@wamu.org, send us a tweet, @kojoshow, or go to our website, kojoshow.org, and ask a question or make a comment there. Are you an Alexandria resident or frequent visitor to Old Town?

NNAMDIDo you think the waterfront is sufficiently accessible and developed? Or are you confused by all of the intraparty warfare going into next month's primary? Call us, 800-433-8850. Michael, I learned from your reporting that one slate is focusing on labor and immigration issues. Who belongs to New Virginia Majority, and how much do these issues resonate within the Democratic Party?

POPEOne of the leaders of New Virginia Majority is a guy who, for many years, was the head of a group known as Tenants and Workers United, which is a group based in a neighborhood called Arlandria. And they are very concerned about development. As you mentioned at the top of the broadcast, the issues of the scale of development is basically what is separating these candidates. So the folks out in Arlandria are really concerned about two specific development proposals.

POPEOne of them is right in the heart of Arlandria, in fact, right next to the office of Tenants and Workers United. That was a project approved earlier this year that would demolish an existing strip mall and put up a much more dense building that would have residential, retail. It was a project that was opposed by many people, including people that would later become candidates on this list. And it was called -- in the neighborhood, people opposed it as gentrification.

POPESupporters of that said that it's -- was good for the neighborhood. It also set aside dedicated units of affordable housing. And so that Arlandria development actually still remains controversial. I have a list of the candidates and their positions on various issues. And it's interesting that that Arlandria proposal has four of the Democrats oppose that, which is the same number of the Democrats on this list that oppose the waterfront plan. So this Arlandria development is actually just as controversial as the waterfront plan.

NNAMDIOn to the telephones. Here is Brian in Alexandria, Va. Brian, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

BRIANGood afternoon, Kojo. Thanks for taking my call.

NNAMDIYou're welcome.

BRIANNice talking to Michael. I enjoy your work in the Alexandria Gazette Packet almost every week. Yeah, I actually -- I live on the west end of Alexandria. I work in Old Town. My office is on King Street, so as you can -- and I've been living here for over 25 years, so I've been following all of this quite closely. I can't say I understand it all completely. Like most people, it's a lot of confusion, but I've certainly tried to get as involved and learn as much as I could.

BRIANBut I have to tell you that is -- regarding the upcoming election, the development issues are the front and foremost issue that I'll be voting on. And I have to say that I was definitely against the waterfront plan as it was proposed. I'm not against development of the waterfront in some capacity at some point, but that the plan they had put together with the increase in density, the hotels and all of that was not something I supported. And I live on the west end of -- I'm in the Seminary Valley area, which, as Michael probably knows, is just -- I'm literally blocks away from Beauregard.

BRIANAnd I've been following that issue. And we're still trying to live with the effects of the BRAC decision. So it does seem like the council in Alexandria as a whole has just been gone, in my opinion, anyways, overboard with development, that the -- it doesn't seem like there's a plan that hasn't been approved, that it -- and I've often wondered -- and I try to talk to some of the candidates when they've come by our neighborhood and spoken to us in groups. You know, there's zoning. There are certain restrictions for buildings and densities and heights. But why do we even have that?

BRIANBecause it seems like every project that's ever been put forth exceeds it. If there's a height limit of so many feet, the proposal we put is 50 feet more. If there's a requirement for X amount of parking spaces for the new development, the development comes forth and wants half of that. And they always have a reason why they should be accepted -- they should get an exception. You know, there are (unintelligible) hotels on the waterfront, but, of course, the development put forth (unintelligible).

NNAMDISomewhere in there, Brian, there's a question.

BRIANSo why is -- well, and my question -- I guess I'm saying that all the candidates I'm going to vote for are the ones that have supported -- are in favor of the lower density projects. They're people that were -- voted against the waterfront plan, the people are against the Beauregard plan as it's put forward.

NNAMDIOK.

BRIANSo I'm just going to let you know that's how I -- and certainly most all of my neighbors in the west end are supporting those kind of candidates. There was -- earlier in the year, they did...

NNAMDIYeah. Let me have Michael Pope respond.

BRIANOK.

POPEWell, yes, there are certainly a handful of candidates who are -- oppose all of those things you just mentioned. And I'm working on putting together a grid -- Kojo here in our studio can see my very high-tech grid here that I've written with a Sharpie.

NNAMDIOh, yeah, it's on a loose leaf notebook, yeah.

POPEEventually, this is going to make into print somewhere. And listeners, like Brian, can look at how the candidates would have voted on all of these issues: the waterfront plan, Beauregard, Arlandria and also a very controversial transportation development known as Corridor C. One thing the caller pointed out that is probably worth mentioning is that he said every plan that comes forward seems to exceed the zoning in terms of height or density.

POPEAnd the reason for that is because, oftentimes, the city officials will essentially strike a deal with a developer. They will say, well, you can exceed the height limit or you can exceed the density if we get dedicated units of set aside affordable housing, if we get transportation improvements, if you, you know, make the street wider. And so a lot of times, what the -- when you hear the plans exceeding the existing zoning, it's because the city wants things in return.

NNAMDIThank you very much for your call, Brian. We move on to Joe, also in Alexandria, Va. Joe, your turn.

JOEHello. I grew up in Arlington, and, now, I live in the Beauregard area. And growing up in Arlington, I really saw a huge shift in the demographics. It became, you know, essentially exclusively an upscale community, mostly whites. Now, I live in Alexandria, and it sort of feels like the Beauregard plan is sort of the Arlingtonization of Alexandria. So I wondering if -- how the different candidates address that sort of -- that gentrification doesn't just affect poor people, but it also sort of pushes out middle-class people and working-class people and sort of just...

NNAMDIEven as I anticipate the call from Arlingtonians protesting the alleged lack of diversity in Arlington, here is Michael Pope.

POPEWell, Alexandria has elected Republicans, which you don't find in Arlington. So the -- on the issue of the Beauregard plan that the caller brought up, it's interesting because this really high-tech grid I'm looking at, that was written with my Sharpie pen, it actually shows that the Beauregard plan is, in fact, more controversial than the waterfront plan in some aspects. There are six of these candidates that would have voted no on the Beauregard plan, whereas only four of the candidates would have voted no on the waterfront plan.

POPESo among the slate of 14 candidates, there is certainly division among these. So it's also worth pointing out here that the mechanics of this election, the way it works, is that that there are six seats that need to be filled. And so there are 14 candidates. That means that more than half of these candidates are not going to be successful. They are ranked in terms of the candidates that get the most votes versus the candidates that get the least votes, and the six individuals with the most votes end up being the Democratic slate in November.

NNAMDIAre any of these slates or PACs working with considerable financial or organizational advantages? Where are voters likely to see their influence on the ground during the final weeks of the campaign?

POPEWell, the group that I referred to as the insiders earlier are the -- probably the group with the deepest pockets, so we could probably expect to see some kind of financial advantage with that group, although, you know, the candidates themselves have been raising money. And so it's interesting that the last financial reports that came out showed a first-time candidate as the one that's raising the most amount of money when those reports came out anyway, and so...

NNAMDIAnd who would that be?

POPESean Houlihan is his name, first-time candidate, also endorsed by that groups -- Securing Alexandria's Future. And so it's really a wide-open game at this point. The unpredictable nature of this election is what makes it the most interesting from a journalist's standpoint.

NNAMDIHow unpredictable it is for Mayor Bill Euille. As you've reported, he's a strong supporter of the waterfront plan. Has any of the slate activity affected his prospects in the primary?

POPEI wouldn't say so because Euille is not on the ballot in the primary. Euille has no opposition as mayor. In some jurisdictions, the person with the most votes ends up being the mayor. But, in Alexandria, the mayor is a separately elected position. So he has no opposition in the Democratic primary, but he does have an independent candidate who's opposing him in November. So, for now, Euille is not really part of the story, although he is out, you know, campaigning for certain -- of these candidates.

NNAMDIWell, you know, what may appear to some people to look like confusion appears to others to look like vibrant democracy. Here's this email we got from Dale in Chevy Chase, D.C. "I live in D.C. I'm listening to this conversation jealously because it seems the diversity within the Alexandria Democratic Party can only be a healthy thing.

NNAMDI"It seems that with D.C. Democrats, either you're an old-school Barry person or you're a myopic little twit who's in favor of gentrifying neighborhoods and Michelle Rhee-style mass firings of teachers. There's no room for anything in between in the District. There should be." Seems like a lot of room for maneuvering in Alexandria, Michael Pope.

POPEThere's more room than there's ever been for maneuvering in Alexandria, and part of that has to do with the different mechanics of how this election is going to work. In the past, the Democratic slate has been chosen by what's known as a firehouse caucus, which is a single location, usually a school somewhere in the city, and all of the Democrats will go to that one location. And, in the past, this has brought in the neighborhood of 2,000 voters.

POPETypically, these are kind of members of the party or, you know, closely aligned with members of the party, the insiders essentially. So what's going to happen on June 12 is that we're going to see many, many more voters show up at the polls. The registrar told me he estimates around -- on the high-end, around 12,000 voters. So there's a big difference between 2,000 voters in a firehouse caucus...

NNAMDIMm hmm.

POPE...and 12,000 in a city-wide primary where all of these precincts will be open all day long on Election Day, the same day, by the way, that there's another existing election for Congress. There's -- Congressman Moran will be on the ballot in Alexandria.

NNAMDISure.

POPEAnd there's a Democratic challenger by the name of Bruce Shuttleworth.

NNAMDIYep.

POPESo that election will also draw out some people.

NNAMDIAnd Michael Pope will be covering it all. He's a reporter with WAMU 88.5 and the Connection Newspapers and author of the book, "Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C." Michael, thank you for joining us.

POPEThank you.

NNAMDIGoing to take a short break. When we come back, a new legal frontier, same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships and family law. It really depends on what state you're living in. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.