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Friday, June 23, 2023
Charlottesville, meet your new city councilors.
Incumbents Michael Payne and Lloyd Snook won the primary election Tuesday along with newcomer Natalie Oschrin. The three beat out Dashad Cooper and Bob Fenwick.
No Republican, third party or independent candidates filed to run this year (their deadline to do so was Primary Day, Tuesday, June 20). That means these three Democratic primary winners will be unchallenged in the general election this fall. So, unless a write-in candidate falls from the sky to defeat one of these three — you’re looking at your new City Council.
Snook, Payne and Oschrin win the Democratic City Council primary
Now, as far as priorities, these three candidates are fairly in sync. Each wants to see more affordable housing built in Charlottesville. Each is against raising the local tax rates (though they’re also against lowering them, which means that Charlottesville homeowners as a whole will pay much higher real estate taxes thanks to skyrocketing assessed property values).
Our new candidate, Oschrin, is especially interested in creating a walkable Charlottesville, in which residents do not need cars. You can read more about the candidates’ positions in our questionnaire here.
City Council Voter Guide: Charlottesville candidates lay out their stances on zoning, transportation, taxation, and public safety.
Now that the primary is over, we also know who our candidates will be in all the other races this year. Curious? We’ve compiled a list with a bit of background information on all the folks running for local office in Charlottesville and Albemarle.
With primaries over, Albemarle County and Charlottesville have candidates for school boards and local government
Between now and Election Day this November, we will be building a robust Voter Guide for Charlottesville, Albemarle and all of central Virginia. The guide will include a rundown of races and candidates, along with information about the policy positions of each one.
Do you have questions you’d like your local candidates to answer? Keep opening these emails for a survey where you can tell us what you want to know. The more of you respond, the better informed our 2023 election coverage will be.
One final note: Our newsroom would like to offer our deep condolences to the family of Laura DeLapp, and her colleagues at The Haven. Laura was the day shelter manager at the nonprofit that helps people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. She was killed Tuesday near Rio Hills Apartment. Police are still looking for her killer. You can read more about Laura in this article from The Daily Progress.
I hope you all are able to enjoy this wet weekend,
Jessie Higgins, managing editor
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