With early voting beginning Friday, Sept. 19, residents will soon decide who will represent them at the local level.
In Orange County, Districts 1 and 4 are up for election, including both the school board and board of supervisors seats. In Madison County, three supervisor seats and three school board seats are up for election. The Town of Gordonsville will choose one council member. The deadline to appear on the November ballot was June 17.
In Orange County, voters in District 1 will choose from among planning commission chairman Jason Capelle, small business owner Andrew Fossen and Orange Tire co-owner Chris Herndon for supervisor and between retired educators Sid Trimmer and Rod Hawkins for school board. Both supervisor and school board incumbents Mark Johnson and Melissa Anderson respectively are not seeking reelection.
Voters in District 4 will choose from incumbent Crystal Hale and business owner Robert Rabe, II for supervisor and O’Brian Martin and Tina Whittington for school board. Both Martin and Whittington were among the candidates who applied to fill the interim vacancy for the District 4 school board seat before board members opted to leave it empty until January when the person elected in November will be sworn in.
In the Town of Gordonsville, Mary “Cyd” Black is seeking election to the town council. Black has been filling the seat left vacant by Ron Brooks’ election as mayor and is running unopposed.
In Madison County, three candidates have been certified to appear on the ballot for supervisor. Incumbent Jim Jewett will seek to retain his seat, while newcomer Nancy Sharman and planning commissioner Mike Snider are seeking election to the remaining two open seats. Incumbent Dustin Dawson is not seeking reelection. Board chairman Clay Jackson unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the 62nd House of Delegates seat. He is running a write-in campaign to retain his board of supervisors’ seat.
Four are seeking election to three seats on the Madison County School Board. Lauran Gordon, Graham Davidson, Mitchell Dickey and Brittany “Britt” Shankle have been certified for the November election. Incumbents Nita Collier, Christopher Wingate and Charlie Sheads are not seeking reelection.
Early voting begins Friday. In Virginia, anyone registered to vote is eligible to vote early. Ballots may be cast at a resident’s respective voter registration office Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Orange and 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Madison. Early voting is also held on two Saturdays–Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1 is the last day to vote early. Polls will be open for Election Day voting Nov. 4, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There is still time to register to vote. The deadline to register or update a registration is Oct. 24. This is also the last day to request a mail-in ballot.
The Orange County Voter Registration Office is located at 130 North Madison Road, Orange and can be contacted by phone at (540) 672-5262. The Madison County Registrar’s Office is located at 414 N. Main Street, Madison and can be contacted by phone at (540) 948-6533.
Registered voters can view their polling place, check their voting history, apply to vote absentee by mail and update their address online at https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation/Lookup/polling.
