Mayor:
Kristen Umstattd - 1,704
Tom Dunn - 1,437
Our mayor was re-elected with a nice margin. It is interesting to note that she received fewer votes than any of the Council candidates who won.
Town Council (Winners indicated with a "+")
+ Kevin Wright - 1,861
+ Marty Martinez - 1,849
+ Ken Reid - 1,797
Neely Law - 1,376
Ann Robinson - 993
All the incumbents were re-elected by a healthy margin. Neely Law came closest to unseating the least-popular incumbent, Ken Reid, but was still over 400 votes shy of doing so. As has been noted by some supporters of the Southwest Connector, this means that Trail is unlikely to move forward anytime soon.
Wright, Martinez and Reid won the election. Neely Law's loss is SW Leesburg's loss. Now we'll need to continue fighting for the SW Connector trail. Today, the SW Connector has the support of 3 of our 7 Council Members: Butler, Martinez and Wright. Dunn, Hammler, Reid and Mayor Umstattd all need additional convinci...ng that SW Leesburg wants this trail. Please make your voices heard. Send a letter to Council at council@leesburgva.gov and make plans to attend the community input session on Wednesday, June 2 at Loudoun County High School from 7:00 to 9:00. - Russ Shaw, Save The Southwest ConnectorAs for the ever-present question of turnout, more people voted this year than two years ago.
Total Registered Voters - 24,424
Total Number Voting - 3,178
Percent Voting - 13%
The precinct-by-precinct turnout numbers help explain some of the results.
Greenway - 19%
Balls Bluff - 12%
Evergreen - 7%
Tolbert - 5%
W. Leesburg - 21%
E. Leesburg - 7%
Dry Mill - 20%
Smart's Mill - 16%
Cool Spring - 15%
Brandon Park - 5%
Heritage - 17%
With 21% turnout and 536 votes cast, W. Leesburg laps the field in voter participation. Personally, I feel that's because W. Leesburg votes at Ida Lee. I suspect there are a lot of people who vote because they're on their way to the gym, and notice there's an election while they're there. I only wish we could have polling places in more locations like that! Maybe Balls Bluff voters should be able to vote at Target, for example. (I have never understood why election officials must beg and plead for places to hold elections so often. Popular businesses should allow polling places to be setup at their locations as a matter of civic pride!)
As for me, I am personally disappointed in the results from E. Leesburg. It is the largest precinct by far, with 800 more registered voters than any other precinct in Town. And yet, it had the 4th lowest number of votes cast and second lowest turnout by percentage. This was a real blow to Ann Robinson and Neely Law, as E. Leesburg has traditionally been a Democratic precinct. Even in November, when Bob McDonnell won a resounding victory, he only won E. Leesburg by one vote (and I am pretty sure I could've gotten us that darn vote if I had knocked a couple more doors in my neighborhood.)
Nearly twice as many people voted in E. Leesburg's February 2008 Democratic primary between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama (553) as voted here in the May 2010 Town Election (234). That represents at least 200 Democratic votes gone missing from this one precinct. The lesson from November 2009 and May 2010 is that the time has come to reawaken Leesburg's Obama majority. Jeff Barnett is going to need us in November.
5 comments:
Good analysis!!!!
Hello Evan, I appreciate your personally honest analysis of the election, as that gives us a basis for further discussion. One of the reasons this election was conflicted was because people who want to formulate policies in the SW initially ignored the working class and low-income neighborhood I live in. Your blog continues to deny their presence and perspective. In Country Club Green Condos, we have fire and rescue workers, former LCPS school principles, retired CIA, current ESL teachers, a Community college instructor, retired elementary school teachers, as well as retail workers, handymen, and residents who work for the Leesburg Parks and Rec. Yet, their perspective has not been given value by the Democratic Party -- instead their opposition to the SWC has been treated as an annoying knat to be swatted. Not exactly the kind of "change we can believe in" that Leesburg Obama voters supported. I recommend that you gather a small group of Democrats together before June 2 to see if we can work this out before we end up entertaining the Republicans with a public spectacle. Ann
Viewing your comments again regarding East Leesburg -- it was largely the lack of enthusiasm for the Republicans that shows in the individual vote totals, creating the low turnout in comparison to other precincts. And further, looking at the Greenway precinct in the SW confirms that this quadrant is not of "one mind" concerning the SWC. Ann
Ann,
Thanks for your input and perspective. I personally appreciate it, and agree with you on an important point - the voices and views of people who rent and live in working class neighborhoods of Leesburg have not been given enough weight. I look forward to working together to rectify that!
Paradox13VA
You Dems need to stay out of local elections the way the Republicans do. Why do you always try to turn non partisan elections into partisan elections?
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