Loudoun Now for Nov. 9, 2023

Page 1

n LOUDOUN

4 | n LEESBURG

VOL. 8, NO. 52

6 | n EDUCATION

8 | n OBITUARIES

We’ve got you covered. In the mail weekly. Online always at LoudounNow.com

Perry Tops Segura; Anderson Tops Biberaj BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com

The barrage of TV ads, mass mailings, and annoying phone and text messages ended Tuesday as voters cast their verdict on local and General Assembly candidates. Election Day ended with Loudoun’s incumbent Board of Supervisors members cruising to reelection, a historic clearing out of the School Board, and a stinging defeat for state Republicans. Loudoun’s ballot featured 79 candidates in 26 local races and bids for two state Senate seats and five House of Delegates seats. Democrat Russet Perry pulled out a tight win over Republican Juan Pablo Segura in the race for the 31st Senate District seat, one of the most closely watched of the 140 General Assembly contests. The former Loudoun County prosecutor making her first run for elective office garnered more than 45,000 votes, about 52% of the total. The race was also among the most expensive, with the two candidates raising a combined $11 million to spend, according to the latest campaign disclosure reports. In the end, that amounted to about $133 per vote. Perry’s win helped Democrats turn back a push, led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who held an election eve rally in Leesburg, to flip the Senate to GOP control in the first round of voting since new election districts were adopted. Not only did Democrats retain 21 seats in the Senate, they regained control of the House of Delegates by an equally slim majority.

17| n LEGAL NOTICES

26

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

All New School Board Elected BY ALEXIS GUSTIN

agustin@loudounnow.com

Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now

Russet Perry speaks to an audience at a victory party Tuesday night after preliminary results show she beat Republican candidate Juan Pablo Segura in the race for the 31st Senate District.

“I think every person in this room has put in all the work it took to get here,” Perry said to the crowd of supporters gathered at Stone Tower Winery on Tuesday night. “We talked about from the very beginning that this was the most competitive race in the district, the most competitive race in the state.” Russet thanked running mates Marty Martinez and Rob Banse. “Thank you for standing up for abortion rights here in Virginia and across the South. I think I said one time, we’re going to draw a line at the border and it’s going to be a line where we protect people. People can come and get the healthcare they need, where doctors can stay where their medical opinion matters. But it’s more

than that. We ran on the importance of our education, the importance of education particular to our democracy,” Perry said. Other statehouse races were less competitive. In the 32nd Senate District, Democrat Suhas Subramanyam, who has represented eastern Loudoun in the House of Delegates for the past four years, beat Republican Gregory Moulthrop, taking more than 60% of the vote. “I’m just so humbled and grateful that the people of Loudoun County are sending me back to the General Assembly. I’ve ELECTION RESULTS continues on page 37

Before Tuesday’s balloting, it was clear the election would reshape the county School Board, which had only two of its nine members running. But it appears voters will make a clean sweep and seat nine new members. Two close races were called before midnight. In the Ashburn District, Deana Griffiths topped incumbent Harris Mahedavi by 185 votes and in the Little River District Sumera Rashid won over Joe. J. Smith by 174 votes, according to preliminary results, with additional mail-in ballots still to be counted. Griffith said she said was anxious to get to work on the School Board and make some positive changes. “Basically, we are going to evaluate everything. It’s evaluating the money that went into building these new bathrooms through the Capital Improvement Program; it’s evaluating test scores; it’s a lot of evaluation even talking about the fentanyl overdoses and asking when the School Board got the information how long they waited to let parents know,” she said, adding she wanted to make sure parents get more information SCHOOL BOARD continues on page 39

ROOF LOCAL ECRWSSEDDM

540-441-7649

HartleyHomeExteriors.com

Contact the Best of Loudoun Winning Roofer for your roofing project and receive a free shingle upgrade. The Best Choice for Roofing Replacement

Permit #1374 Merrifield VA

PAID

PRESRT STD U.S. Postage


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.