Virginia state Sen. Patsy Ticer, D-Alexandria, announced her retirement from the legislature when her current term expires in an emotional floor speech Thursday.
“I gave a lot of prayerful thought to this,” said Ticer, 76, who has served in the Senate since 1996. “You know I’ve been in public service for a very long time and its hard to contemplate life without it.”
Ticer, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, previously was Alexandria’s mayor.
She notably helped lead the fight against a proposal by then-Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke to build a new stadium at Potomac Yard on land Alexandria had zoned for mixed commercial/residential use.
“She is the most popular elected official in the city of Alexandria, with good reason,” said Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax. “There’s not one area of that city, not one civic leader that¹s she’s not on a first-name basis with.”
Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, Alexandria councilman Rob Krupicka, and Arlington school board chairman Libby Garvey have all announced their intent to run for the seat if Ticer retired.
