Election round-up: Scearce running for reelection to Westover seat on Pittsylvania Board; Candidates emerge in Banister and Chatham-Blairs districts
Another look at elections coming up in the Fifth District
Apologies to Nottoway County for not getting out a preview of last week’s meeting, not the budget work sessions in Charlotte County and Charlottesville. The challenge is to get all of the meetings listed at least 24 hours in advance, and that is the goal of this newsletter.
In reality, it’s just me doing the work at this point, so sometimes it’s difficult to get to it all. I’m excited about the future, though. I believe this kind of work is useful to the Fifth District in which we live and I am still trying to figure out one newsletter at a time. I’m glad you’re along for the ride, too.
Today, another election round-up. Tomorrow, previews of meetings in Appomattox County, Charlottesville, Halifax County, and Louisa County.
Board of Supervisors’ races:
Frank Fox has filed to run as an independent for the Chatham-Blairs seat on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors. Republican Robert Wayne Warren was elected to the seat in 2015 in 2019. Both races were uncontested. For more on Fox, take a look at an article in the February 22, 2023 Chatham Star-Tribune.
Republican Ronald Scearce is running for re-election in the Westover District on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors. Scearce was first elected to the seat in 2015 with 57.8 percent of the 1,920 votes cast. In 2019, he won 69.9 percent of the 2,437 votes cast.
Independent Kell Stone has filed to run for the Banister District seat on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors. The seat is currently held by Robert M. Tucker Jr., who the Danville Register & Bee reports is running for re-election to the seat he was appointed to last year following the resignation of Jessie Barksdale.
Dashad Cooper will now run for the Democratic nomination for one of three seats on the Charlottesville City Council. Cooper had filed to run for the House District 54 seat.
There’s a nomination contest underway in the Beaverdam District on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. Republican Joseph Robert Monolo was elected to fill a vacancy last year after the death of Aubrey Stanley in late 2021. Fellow Republicans Jeffrey Scott Stoneman and Douglas Alan Schule are also candidates, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Sherry Ragland has filed to run for the District 5 seat on the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors. The seat is currently held by Harry Willard Bryant, Jr. He won election in 2015 with 55.7 percent of the 379 votes cast that year. Bryant was unopposed in 2019 and got 587 of the 608 ballots cast.
A map of the election districts in Pittsylvania County (Credit: Pittsylvania County)
School Board races:
Judy Le is running for re-election to a second term to the Rivanna District seat on the Albemarle County School Board. Le won in 2019 in a contested race with 59.8 percent of the 6,297 votes cast that year.
Derek Charles Mason has filed to run for the District 4 seat on the School Board and has listed himself as a Republican. The seat is currently held by Jason Harold Camp, who won election in 2019 with no opposition. The South Boston Gazette-Virginian reported on January 12 that Camp was appointed as chair for this year.
Marie Willet has filed to run as Commissioner of Revenue in Amelia County. Laura Marston Walsh was elected to the position in 2015 and 2019, both in contested races. Walsh won around two-thirds of the vote in both elections. .
Constitutional officers:
Independent Michael Fowlkes has announced a challenge campaign to become Sheriff of Lunenburg County. The seat has been held by Arthur Townsend since 2007 when he won 79.4 percent of the 2,674 votes cast that year. He ran in contested elections in 2011 and 2019 but faced no opposition in 2015. Townsend is running for a fifth term, as we learn from a March 10, 2023 article in the Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch.
Mel Sheridan is running for another term as the Commissioner of Revenue in Fluvanna County. He has held the position since at least 2003 when he was elected in a four-way race with 38.3 percent over the 5,180 votes cast that year. He ran in contested races in 2007 and 2011, but faced no opposition in 2015 and 2019.
Robert Leroy Jones, Sr, is running for re-election as the Sheriff of Nottoway County. He won the 2019 race with 65.6 percent of the 4,669 votes cast that year.
Reading material:
Group airs concerns with solar projects in Halifax County, Miranda Baines, South Boston Gazette-Virginian, March 9, 2023
Del. Kathy Byron not seeking re-election, Jeffrey Westbrook, Altavista Journal, March 9, 2023
Residents speak out both in support of and against Halifax County Animal Control, Miranda Baines, South Boston Gazette-Virginian, March 9, 2023
Redevelopment planned for Lynchburg's Bedford Avenue, Rachael Smith, Lynchburg News and Advance, March 11, 2023
After fallout from lost Ford project, Southside officials undaunted in marketing of mega park. 'We're even more prepared.', John Crane, Danville Register & Bee, March 11,2023,
Amherst County School Board member announces resignation, Jazmine Otoy, WSLS 10, March 14, 2023
Amherst County School Board member resigns, Justin Faulconer, Amherst New-Era Progress, March 14, 2023
Sen. Steve Newman to retire after 35 years in politics, Markus Schmidt, Cardinal News, March 15, 2023