A quick guide to competitive local races in Central Virginia

Did someone forward you this email? Maybe you’ve found it on the web? Here’s where you can subscribe for free!

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

Voting in this year’s elections ends on Tuesday! Tomorrow is your last day to vote early at your registrar, and Tuesday the polls will be open.

The majority of local races in central Virginia are uncontested, which means they are essentially decided. But, of the 148 local races we are tracking in our 2023 Voter Guide for Central Virginia, 38 have competition.

For those of you who already voted or will vote Tuesday in this region, here are the races you’ll be deciding.

Albemarle County

• Board of Supervisors, Rivanna District: Incumbent Board member Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, who has held the Rivanna District seat for a single term, is being challenged by T.J. Fadeley. These are two very different candidates, with differing views on local tax rates, solar farms and how to respond to gun violence. See both their responses to our Q&A.
• Board of Supervisors, White Hall District: Incumbent Board member Ann Mallek, who has held the seat since 2009, is running against challenger Brad Rykal for the White Hall District seat. Only Mallek provided answers. Still, Rykal has been quoted in other media outlets. We’ve shared the links that we think will help the most.
• School Board, White Hall District: Rebecca Berlin and Joann McDermid are the two certified candidates running to represent the White Hall District. Berlin currently serves on the Board, and was appointed in 2022 after the resignation of Dave Oberg. Only Berlin responded to our Q&A, which makes it simple for voters to see where she stands on key issues facing the district. You’ll have to look a little harder for McDermid, though this race has had a lot of local news coverage, and you can find links in the Q&A.
• School Board, at-large member: Newcomers Allison L. Spillman and Meg S. Bryce are vying for this seat — and they both returned the Q&A, so you can easily compare these two candidates.

Want to see your message in our newsletters? Here’s how to become a sponsor.

Appomattox County

• Board of Supervisors, Falling River District: Incumbent John Hinkle is seeking his second term in the Falling River District seat, after winning a previous election against then-incumbent Supervisor Chad Millner. Hinkle is now facing off against challenger Laura Briceland. Neither candidate responded to our Q&A, but we were able to curate several stories about Hinkle. We were unable to find much about Briceland.
• Board of Supervisors, Appomattox River District: Incumbent William Harvey Hogan is seeking his third term in the Appomattox River District seat, after winning two elections unopposed. This year, though, he is facing challengers for the first time: James Boyce and Kenneth William “Dutch Henry” Wolfskill Jr. Unfortunately none of these three candidates responded to our Q&A, but we’ve curated the little media coverage we could find about them.

Buckingham County

• Board of Supervisors, District 3: Don Matthews Jr. and Michael Palmore vie for the seat. Neither returned answers to our Q&A, but we’ve shared links about the Board, and the baseless claims of voter fraud that have rocked Buckingham’s registrar.
• Board of Supervisors, District 4: Wes Saxon Jr. and Paul Garrett vie for the seat. Neither responded to our Q&A, but we have a link to a Q&A they did with the Farmville Herald.
• Board of Supervisors, District 5: Joe Breland, Harry Bryant and Sherry Ragland vie for the seat. None of the candidates responded to Charlottesville Tomorrow, but we’ve shared some links to news about them, including a candidate forum.
• School Board, District 2: Rachel Castello-Dunn is facing off against William Todd Jamerson to represent District 2 on the Buckingham County School Board. Castello-Dunn is the incumbent candidate; she won an unopposed election for the seat in 2019. Neither candidate returned our Q&A.

Cumberland County

• Board of Supervisors, District 1: Bryan Hamlet and Hubert “Dolph” Davis II are vying for this seat. Neither candidate has held the position before and neither responded to our Q&A. There’s also precious little media coverage of these candidates, but we’ve shared what we could find.
• Board of Supervisors, District 2: Incumbent Ron Tavernier won the Cumberland County this seat in 2019, defeating then-incumbent Lloyd Banks Jr. Tavernier is now being challenged by John Newman. Neither responded to our Q&A and there has been little media coverage of the race.
• Sheriff: Incumbent Sheriff Darrell Hodges is being challenged by Rodney Davenport in the first contested sheriff’s election since Hodges first won the position in 2007. Neither Hodges nor Davenport returned answers, and there’s not much media about this race.

Fluvanna County

• Board of Supervisors, Fork Union District: Two new candidates are vying for the open Fork Union District seat, Mike Goad and Horace Scruggs III. Whoever wins will replace sitting Supervisor Mozell Booker. Goad responded to our Q&A, Scruggs did not.
• Board of Supervisors, Palmyra District: James D. Schoenster and Timothy M. Hodge are both vying for the open seat representing the Palmyra District — and both responded to our Q&A, so you can compare and contrast their stances!
• School Board, Fork Union District: Danny Reed and Gary Davis Jr. are facing off for the Fork Union District seat on the Fluvanna County School Board. Whoever is elected will replace Perrie Johnson, who has held the seat since winning the 2015 election for it. Davis responded to our Q&A, Reed did not.
• School Board, Palmyra District: Incumbent James Kelley is being challenged by Brittany Gray to represent the Palmyra District on the Fluvanna County School Board. Kelley, who is the current School Board chair, won the Palmyra District seat in an uncontested election in 2019. Kelley answered our Q&A, Gray did not. Though, at the bottom of the Q&A we’ve curated a lot of media coverage that will give you a good sense of where Gray stands on a few key issues.
• Treasurer: Bryan Moeller and Deborah Rittenhouse vie for this seat. The last treasurer held the position for 30 years; now these two candidates want to convince voters they are right for the job. They both gave thoughtful answers to the Q&A.

Louisa County

• Board of Supervisors, Louisa District: Christopher J. “Chris” Colsey, Greg D. Jones, Sr., and H. Manning Woodward, III are the certified candidates seeking the seat, after Eric Purcell announced in March that he would not seek re-election. All three answered questions and have significant differences in their positions on property taxes, the national flood program and solar power.
• School Board, Jackson District: A.H. McClendon and Bernard “Bernie” Hill are both running for the Jackson District seat on the Louisa County School Board. This is Hill’s first run for the school board, although he previously ran for the Jackson District seat on the Louisa County Board of Supervisors in 2019 and lost. Neither candidate responded to our questions, but there is some coverage of the race in the Central Virginian.

Orange County

• Board of Supervisors, District 2: Incumbent Supervisor Keith Marshall is facing challenger Ellen Pitera for the District 3 seat. The two candidates faced off in the last election, with Marshall winning the seat by just 50 votes. Neither candidate returned answers.
• Board of Supervisors, District 3: Delton J. “D.J.” Anglin III is facing off against Ed Van Hoven. Whoever wins will replace sitting Supervisor Jim White. Neither Anglin nor Van Hoven responded to our Q&A.
• Board of Supervisors, District 5: Newcomers Anne LeHuray and J. Bryan Nicol will face off against each other for the District 5 seat. Whoever wins will replace longtime Supervisor Lee Frame, who announced this year he is not seeking re-election. Neither LeHuray nor Nicol responded to our Q&A.
• Commonwealth’s Attorney: Incumbent Diana Wheeler O’Connell is running against S. Page Higginbotham III. O’Connell won the seat in a tight election, which included a recount, against Higginbotham in 2019. O’Connell is seeking her sixth term. This is the only contested Commonwealth’s Attorney race in our guide. O’Connell answered our Q&A. Higginbotham did not respond.
• School Board, District 2: Darlene Dawson and Sherrie Page are vying for this seat. Neither candidate responded to our Q&A, but we’ve provided links to other media coverage that can provide context for the race.
• School Board, District 3: Jack Rickett, Ryan Marky and Stephen Keeler are vying for this seat. None of the candidates in this three-way race responded, so we’ve linked to some reporting in the Orange County Review.
• School Board, District 5: Gary Mcfadden, Jim Hopkins and Sandy Harrington are vying for this seat. The candidates didn’t respond to us, but there has been media coverage about debates over students’ self-identification of gender, “divisive” and “sexually explicit” materials in schools.
• Sheriff: Three candidates are vying to replace longtime Sheriff Mark Amos, who is not seeking reelection. They are Stephen LaLuna, Aaron Adams and Jason Smith. None of them responded to our Q&A, and there’s not a lot of information about them in local media. But we found a few stories about them to include.

Nelson County

• Board of Supervisors, South District: Jessica Ligon and Mary Kathryn Allen are the two candidates certified by the Virginia Department of Elections. Whoever wins will replace sitting Supervisor Robert “Bip” Barton. Neither candidate answered our Q&A but there is a story about the race in the Nelson County Times.
• Board of Supervisors, West District: Incumbent J. David Parr is being challenged by newcomer Mark Franklin. This is the first time this seat has been challenged in more than 20 years. Neither candidate answered questions, but the Nelson County Times also covered this race.
• School Board, South District: Ceaser Perkins and Philip Purvis are both running for the South District seat on the Nelson County School Board. Perkins is the incumbent, and has held his seat since 2015. Neither candidate replied to our request to participate, but we’ve shared some links to other media coverage about them.
• Sheriff: Sheriff David Hill faces challenger Mark Embrey for the seat. Hill has served as sheriff since 2015, and has faced opposition for the position during each election. Again, neither candidate responded to us, but there is some coverage in the Nelson County Times.

Prince Edward County

• Commissioner of Revenue:  Edna Trent Goldman, the incumbent, and Crystal M. Hensley are the two candidates seeking this seat. Goldman was elected in 2019 and is seeking a second term. Hensley has been an employee in Prince Edward and Dinwiddie Commissioner of Revenue offices. Both responded to our Q&A!
• Board of Supervisors District 1: Incumbent Edgar Harrison Jones is being challenged by Peter Gur. Only Gur responded to the Q&A.
• Board of Supervisors District 2: Incumbent supervisor Victor “Bill” Jenkins is being challenged by Rex Williams. Jenkins is seeking his first full term. He won against two opponents in an off-year election in 2022. One of those opponents, Carol Stiff, was the interim District 2 supervisor. She was appointed in June 2022 to replace longtime Supervisor Bobby Jones, who died unexpectedly. Neither Jenkins nor Williams returned the Q&A.
• Sheriff: L.A. “Tony” Epps is seeking a second term as sheriff, but is facing a challenge by Robert Goldman. Neither candidate responded to our Q&A, but there’s been reports on each in local media — and we provided links!

Want to know more, and find out what’s on your ballot? Click through the whole voter guide.

2023 Voter Guide for Central Virginia

Have a great weekend!

Jessie Higgins, Managing Editor