Fairfax Independents Prove People-Powered Campaigns Work

Three Independent candidates in Fairfax, Virginia, proved that grassroots, people-powered campaigns can succeed without the backing of party affiliation or big-money campaigns. Rachel McQuillen, Stacy Hall, and Tom Peterson ran for city council, relying on direct voter engagement, strategic messaging, and innovative digital outreach to win. Their success underscores a growing appetite among voters for representatives who prioritize community interests over party loyalty.

Fairfax operates under a non-partisan council-manager system, with a mayor and six council members elected every two years. These non-partisan races encourage voter participation and work to keep local governance free from the influence of national party politics. However, McQuillen, Hall, and Peterson learned that their local races weren’t as party-free as expected. Running against major-party campaign efforts, with local Democratic Party leaders pushing for partisan endorsements and party-aligned sample ballots, these candidates knew they needed to find a way to work together against the two-party system. 

In June of 2024, alongside several other candidates, McQuillen, Hall, and Peterson formed a coalition of Independents called the Fairfax City Independent Ballot. Together, they created a united front of non-partisan candidates, emphasizing their commitment to transparency and responsiveness in governance. 

By working together, these candidates also made it possible to rely on each other’s unique backgrounds and experiences and share resources. For instance, they could share the weight of being in-person at polling locations and vouch for the entire slate of Independent candidates leading up to election day. Running alone, a candidate typically must go to multiple polling places independently, and prioritizing neighborhoods can be difficult. Additionally, because they were a coalition, McQuillen and Hall were able to send out mailers together and split the costs rather than spending potentially thousands of dollars on individual mailers. 

The coalition also created a sense of community within the election, reflecting each candidate’s beliefs in putting people first in their campaigns. While not everyone from the group won their elections, McQuillen, Hall, and Peterson defied the odds typically stacked against Independent candidates. Despite the money and influence a major political party poured into their local races, these three Independent candidates proved that the right strategy and tools allow Independent candidates to compete and win.

Choosing Community Over Party Loyalty

For McQuillen, Hall, and Peterson, running as Independents came from their belief that governance should be about the community rather than political allegiance. In Fairfax, the local Democratic committee often influences the outcome of elections by endorsing candidates, even in non-partisan races. However, these candidates rejected the idea that they had to conform to party expectations to succeed.

“I was told in order to seek the Democratic endorsement, I would have to make a pledge stating that I would not oppose nor endorse any candidates that the Democratic committee didn't approve of or chose, essentially,” McQuillen recalled. “And I was like, ‘I'm not going to be controlled by anyone.’”

Tom Peterson shared a similar sentiment, explaining that he became disillusioned with the party’s influence in local politics.

 “It was starting to feel like they wanted you to follow a prescribed path. Given the path they had been on so far in the city, that left me uncomfortable,” he said. “I really didn't want to be in a position where I wasn't going to be able to vote my conscience and the conscience of the community.”

Working outside party constraints wasn’t easy, though. McQuillen experienced firsthand how the American political system discourages Independent candidates.

“I was told $15,000 was the minimum I would need to be able to actually win,” she said. “It's very intimidating, especially for people like us, middle-class families where we're in a situation where that kind of money is a lot.”

LEARN MORE: Explore how to run a successful campaign as an Independent.

Despite pressure to align with a major party, the candidates pushed forward as an Independent coalition. 

Hall, who worked closely with McQuillen, reflected on their and the coalition’s defiant approach: “We really were like, ‘We need to show that anybody can do this, that there's not this huge barrier to entry.’”

Their decisions to reject the status quo and go against the two-party system meant they had to build recognition from the ground up, starting with their campaign messages.

Creating Messages Fairfax Voters Could Believe In

One of the biggest challenges of running an Independent campaign is getting your message out into the world and ensuring voters understand you and your beliefs. In Fairfax, where over 60% of residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, these candidates needed to craft campaign messaging that resonated with Fairfax's engaged and educated electorate.

Hall noted how valuable it was to have strategic support in shaping her message.

“Someone helping me talk about what message I want to get out, how I want to do it, what my timeline should look like, and just kind of keeping me on task,” she said, was very helpful for her city council bid. 

Working directly with a GoodParty.org representative, Hall found ways to define her message and ensure voters heard her loud and clear. 

Peterson's messaging process was highly iterative and personal. He knew he needed to figure out what issues were top on voters' minds and speak directly to them. 

“I did a lot of test messaging,” he said. “I had a framework, and I think I knew a lot of those issues, but I was constantly sort of testing and then also trying to figure out whether I'd missed something.”

McQuillen and Hall also leveraged their identities as local parents to connect with voters. 

“Our whole thing was just, you're not being listened to. We're not being listened to. Here’s our personal experiences from working with the council in our own neighborhood,” Hall explained.

LEARN MORE: Learn how to craft a compelling message for your Independent campaign.

Another key element in voter outreach was Hall’s campaign video, which gave voters a personal introduction to her candidacy. While making campaign videos is common, Hall was surprised at how much engagement her website saw, bolstering her faith in its efficacy.  

“I had a huge jump in website traffic the day it went out,” she said. “What also surprised me is actually election day was my biggest day. I had almost 300 people go on my website that day, which I thought was really good because maybe they're standing there looking at the ballot, and they're like, ‘Oh, who is this person? Let me do this.’”

Once the candidates had their messaging in place, the next challenge was delivering it to as many voters as possible — without the resources of a major political party.

Winning Voters One Text at a Time

While traditional campaign strategies like canvassing and mailers played a role, digital outreach — especially texting — emerged as a game-changer for these candidates.

“I had so many people early voting and even on election day talking about my text,” McQuillen said. “It was really nice to hear that a lot of people were getting that and that they heard from us. It definitely was effective.”

Peterson agreed: “The texting campaign [was] huge, really huge.”

For Hall, text messaging provided a way to reach voters in a way she couldn’t have managed on her own. “I got one thing of text messages out. That, to me, was also another avenue that I knew I wasn't going to be able to manage on my own.”

At the polls, Hall even directly encountered a voter who had received her texts. She recalls he suggested he wasn’t planning to vote for her, likely because he received numerous texts a few weeks before the election. But, his tone changed: “He was like, ‘But you're here. I mean, you're out here, and you're doing this.’ He was like, ‘You got my vote.’”

Although texting let them quickly connect with a wide variety of potential voters, the real persuasive impact of their campaigns often happened in person.

The Impact of Personal Conversations with Fairfax Voters

Face-to-face engagement reinforced the Fairfax candidates’ commitment to accessibility and direct voter interaction. 

Peterson found that personal interactions shaped his campaign message and built trust among voters. 

“I finally found my voice,” he said. “The door knocking combined with a whole lot of personal conversations defined my message for the campaign.”

He also spent hours at polling locations on election day, speaking directly with voters before they cast their ballots. “I can just tell from the conversations and the feedback that I turned a huge percentage of those folks — and I might not have otherwise.”

Hall also emphasized the power of presence at the polls and creating personal relationships with constituents: “I actually think that really worked to my benefit because I think people saw me and they didn't see the other candidates.”

For McQuillen, having strategic voter data was invaluable. “For $10 a month, I was able to afford someone that I could reach out to and say, ‘Hey, can you please dial down a door-knocking list specifically for apartment buildings only, or for townhomes?’” 

Empowered with actionable data, McQuillen could focus on the most essential part of campaigning: the people.

LEARN MORE: See how crucial the contact phase of a campaign is for successfully engaging voters. 

Beyond Party Lines: A Blueprint for Independent Success

Rachel McQuillen, Stacy Hall, and Tom Peterson's victories in Fairfax prove that Independent candidates can win when they prioritize direct voter engagement, authentic messaging, and innovative digital outreach.

Through support from the Independent coalition they created, rejection of party influence, and focus on grassroots organizing, they demonstrated that elections can be won not by party endorsements but by meaningful, people-powered campaigns. 

These newly elected officials remain committed to staying connected to their constituents. 

Peterson put it simply: “I don't believe the campaign has ended in terms of the communications channels,” he said. “It is my intention to keep communication channels that are effective, open, and used strategically in a proactive manner for the next two years.”

Hall similarly intends to focus on listening to her constituents moving forward. 

“I want to hear what's going on in your world,” she said. “I don't want to just be sitting up there thinking I'm making good decisions and that wasn't what you would have wanted.”

Their success is a powerful example for future Independent candidates looking to challenge the status quo and represent their communities on their terms. Inspired by their story? You don’t have to run for office alone. GoodParty.org provides the tools, data, and support to help Independent candidates build winning campaigns.