What's on the 2023 ballot in Louisa, Lunenburg, and Mecklenburg?
Find out in this non-meeting installment of Fifth District Community Engagement
As near as I can tell, there are no meetings this week of elected officials in Virginia’s Fifth District. I reviewed all 24 just in case, but still am concerned I may have missed one or two. I am still finding the rhythm of the elected bodies from Albemarle to Prince Edward, and sincerely doubt any are meeting this week.
In my fifteen years of being a reporter who focuses heavily on municipal uses, I can only think of one major meeting that took place between Christmas and New Year’s Day. That was when the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority voted 4-3 to proceed with a pump station that was more expensive than Albemarle County officials wanted to pay. (read my story from then)
I view my job to be there if something does happen but I’m still learning the dynamics of the new District. What disputes about the future and how to pay for it will I write about in the future? Stay tuned.
In this sole instance of the newsletter for this week, a look at elections coming up in three of the 24 localities. It is highly doubtful I will be able to cover all of the races but I am certainly going to do my best to write what I can and highlight the stories written by my colleagues in journalism. Every installment now has a list of stories you may be interested in.
Last week, someone pledged $150 to help launch the paid subscriptions of this newsletter. I’m grateful for that gesture and it does change my calculus about how I may proceed in 2023. Until then, do consider becoming a supporter on Patreon. I’m grateful for all of the fuel I can get.
There will not likely be another edition of this newsletter this week, but it’s definitely going to be a very busy 2023. See you on the other side of the New Year!
Three on ballot in Louisa County
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 37,596 people in 2020 in Louisa County, a community just to the east of Charlottesville. The Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia projects that number will grow steadily with an increase to 41,436 in 2030 and 52,706 in 2050. Both Louisa and Fluvanna are planning for additional residential density at Zion Crossroads with a waterline from the James River in the planning stages.
In the Cuckoo District, Willie L. Gentry Jr. has been the Supervisors since at least 2003 which is as far back as the online records for the Virginia Department of Elections go. In that year, Gentry defeated his opponent with 56.4 percent of the 966 votes cast. Since then, he has never faced opposition on the ballot. The number of write-in candidates each year has incrementally increased from 12 in 2007 to 43 in 2019.
Republican Toni Williams, Jr. has represented the Jackson District since 2015 when he garnered 57.4 percent of the 1,099 votes cast that year. In 2019, he defeated his opponent with 64 percent of the 1,695 votes case.
In 2019, Independent Eric Purcell ran unopposed in an open seat in the Louisa District with 96.3 percent of the 1,465 votes cast. Purcell also served one term after being elected in 2003 in a three-way race in which he got 42.1 percent of the 1,213 votes cast.
If you are interested in the nuts and bolts of Louisa County, please subscribe to Tammy Purcell’s Engage Louisa. She’s able to write a lot more about this growing community than I am, and I encourage you to read directly from the source. Here’s what she has to say about this coming year’s election and Louisa in 2023:
Supervisor Gentry has been on the board for about 20 years. I don’t anticipate that he will seek reelection, but he has not publicly stated his intentions one way or the other. It’s certainly possible that he will run again. If he does, I expect he’ll face Republican opposition. He’s run as an independent throughout his time on the board.
Engage Louisa plans to provide in-depth coverage of the Board of Supervisors in the coming year. Decisions involving two large and controversial developments—one at Lake Anna and the other at Zion Crossroads—are expected to come early in 2023, so the year’s going to get off to a fast start. We’ll also offer detailed coverage of local elections. Louisa has three seats on the Board of Supervisors and School Board and all its constitutional offices up for grabs in 2023. It’s going to be an exciting year and we look forward to doing our part to keep folks informed.
And I look forward to reading!
Three of seven Supervisor districts up for election in Lunenburg
Lunenburg County is the third smallest jurisdiction in the Fifth District with a 2020 count of 11,936 people. The Weldon Cooper Center sees that falling over the next few decades with a projected 9,441 in 2050.
There are seven seats on the Board of Supervisors and three are up for election next November.
Republican Charles Randolph Slayton has held the District 4 (Rehobeth) seat since 2007 when he received 332 of the 333 votes cast that year in a race where he was the only one on the ballot. He was also unopposed in 2011 and 2015. In 2019, Slayton faced an independent candidate and won with 67.7 percent of the 517 votes.
Democrat Edward Washington Pennington has been representing District 5 (Love’s Mill) since at least 2001 when he was the lone candidate on the ballot for a special election. He won election again in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Pennington has never faced an opponent.
Democrat Alvester L. Edmonds has been the Supervisor for District 6 (Alvester Edmonds) since at least 2003 when he got 344 out of the 357 votes cast. He only faced opposition in 2011 when he defeated an independent candidate with 74.1 percent of the vote.
All seats up on the ballot in Mecklenburg County
Mecklenburg County is between Lunenburg County and the North Carolina border. There were 30,319 residents as of the U.S. 2020 Census. If the population projections from the Weldon Cooper Center are any indication, that number will drop sharply to 25,059 in 2050.
Future decisions will be made by the nine member Board of Supervisors. All seats are up for election in the fall.
In District 1, independent Andy Roberson Hargrove won election in 2011 with 52.6 percent of the 908 ballots cast. He ran unopposed in 2015 and 2019.
Glanzy Spain has represented District 2 since at least 2003 when the Virginia Department of Elections’ online records date back. In that time, Spain has never faced opposition of more than six write-in votes.
The past two elections in District 3 have pitted two Tanners against each other. Evans Dan Tanner Jr. was elected in 2003, 2007, and 2011 with no opposition. In 2015, Thomas Christoper Tanner mounted an opposition campaign along with another candidate. Evans Tanner won that year with 36.7 percent of the vote. Four years later, Thomas Christopher Tanner defeated the incumbent in a two-way race with 53.2 percent of the 846 votes cast.
Claudia Hubbard Lundy won a special election in District 4 in 2010 in which she was unopposed. She was re-elected in 2011 and 2015 with 100 percent of the vote. In 2019, there were 16 write-in votes.
District 5 has another long-term incumbent. Independent Glenn E. Barbour has held the seat since 2001 when he won in a special election and received 100 percent of the votes. There was no opponent on the ballot in 2003, 2007, 2011, or 2015. In 2019, Barbour fended off a fellow independent with 58.2 percent of the 808 votes cast.
In District 6, independent Patrick Sterling Wilkinson won in a special election with 96.1 percent of the 1,224 votes cast. There was no opposition either in 2019 when he received 98 percent of the 803 votes cast.
James David Jennings has held the District 7 seat since 2000 when he won with no opposition. That was also the case in 2003, 2007, 2015, and 2019. Jennings’ only electoral challenge came in 2011 when he received 66.2 percent of the 845 votes cast.
In District 8, David Allen Brankley won election in a three way race in which he got 37.5 percent of the 1,087 votes cast. He won 99.7 percent of the vote in 2015 in an uncontested race and had a challenger in 2019. Brankley fended off a challenger in 2019 with 61 percent of the 928 votes cast.
Charles Ervin Jones, Jr. won the District 9 seat in a three-way race in which he obtained 44.3 percent of the 979 votes cast.
Reading material:
Officials seek to name part of Berry Hill Road after Danville councilman, former Pittsylvania County supervisor, John Crane, Danville Register & Bee, December 21, 2022
Prince Edward board approves priorities, Farmville polling place, Brian Carlton, December 21, 2022
Congressman Bob Good explains opposition to McCarthy as speaker, Jeffrey Westbrook, Appomattox Times-Virginian, December 22, 2022
Halifax County Planning Commission signs off on meat plant proposal, Miranda Baines, South Boston Gazette-Virginian, December 22, 2022
Trudy Berry enters race for redrawn District 9 seat, Brian Carlton, Farmville Herald, December 22, 2022
Pittsylvania County School Board votes to adopt 10-point grading scale, Drew Mumich, December 22, 2022
Supervisors want to discuss arming teachers, Diana McFarland, Chatham Star-Tribune, December 23, 2022
Report: Amherst public schools lost 81 positions in 14-year span, Justin Faulconer, Amherst New-Era Progress, December 23, 2022