LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
LoudounNow
[ Vol. 4, No. 51 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[November 7, 2019 ]
■ PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES - PAGE 34 ■ NOW HIRING LOUDOUN PAGE 48 ■ RESOURCE DIRECTORY PAGE 49
Blue Virginia
Dems Pick Up Senate, House Majorities BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) greets supporters after winning a second term in an overwhelming victory over her two challengers.
Dems Flip County Board BY RENSS GREENE Democrats have seized control of the county Board of Supervisors for the first time since the 1999 election, flipping Republicans’ 6-3 majority upside-down with a series of decisive victories across the county. Dulles Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) and Blue Ridge Supervisor Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) were the only Republican supervisors to successfully defend their seats. They will be joined by new supervisor Caleb A. Kershner in the Catoctin District. Democrats, meanwhile, held onto every seat they already controlled and added three more to their caucus. Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) and supervisors Koran T. Saines (D-Sterling) and Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg) will return to their seats for a second term. Umstattd ran unopposed; both Randall and Saines posted commanding numbers.
They will be joined by fellow Democrats Juli E. Briskman, Algonkian; Michael R. “Mike” Turner, Ashburn; and Sylvia Russell Glass, Broad Run. Randall said the county board will be revisiting some issues on which Democrats could not gain traction before, such as the boundaries for where shooting is allowed in the county. “I don’t think bullets should fly into houses and we not do anything about it,” Randall said. She also said she would push to allow unions to come into the county building once a year, and that the board would take stances on some other issues in Richmond like the Equal Rights Amendment, where before it has stuck to narrowly local issues. “For the most part, we’re still going to do the same thing, which is work for the Loudoun County citizens,” Randall said. “That’s what we’re here to do, and that’s what we’re going to do.” But perhaps most significantly, Randall
said she plans to push for a new police department. “I think it’s time for Loudoun to have a police chief, and it didn’t matter who won that race—I was going to do that anyway,” Randall said. Virginia’s constitution requires the county to have an elected sheriff, although in other large counties, the sheriff is only responsible for the jail and court security, with law enforcement left to a police department. In contrast to an elected sheriff, a police chief is hired by the Board of Supervisors or county administrator. Loudoun currently has the largest sheriff ’s office in the state. Randall won reelection with 63,182 votes to Republican John C. L. Whitbeck Jr.’s 43,656 and independent Robert J. Ohneiser’s 4,488 votes. Randall finished with 56.7 percent of the vote. Briskman unseated second-term in-
The Old Dominion turned solidly blue Tuesday night, with Democrats picking up majority control in the General Assembly. All 140 seats in the State Senate and House of Delegates were on the ballot Tuesday. Prior to Election Night, Republicans held only a slim majority in both chambers, with 51 seats to the Democrats’ 48 in the House, and 20 seats to Democrats’ 19 in the Senate. By evening’s end, though, that majority solidly changed in the Democrats’ favor. In the State Senate, Democrats on Tuesday night won 21 races, with only 20 seats needed to gain majority control, thanks to the tiebreaker power held by Democratic Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax. After midnight, one race remained undecided in the 12th District. Likewise, in the House of Delegates, Democrats picked up six additional seats, now controlling 55. The wins put the state back in Democratic control for the first time in decades. Despite not winning a statewide race in the past decade, the Republican Party in Virginia has held onto control of both chambers of the General Assembly for the past five years. Republicans have held Senate control since 2014, and a majority in the House for 20 years. Many eyes nationwide have been turned to Virginia as a litmus test for Republican President Donald J. Trump, who faces re-election next Election Day. It will also give Democrats control in the next round of redistricting ahead of the 2020 census. Northam praised Tuesday night’s gains and said the victories were evidence that Virginians wanted the state government to continue build-
BOARD >> 54
BLUE VIRGINIA >> 55
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