The primaries and the conventions are over. The independents have submitted their petitions. So whatever opportunities we had to influence who ran in the general election is over. Now we have to prepare for the general election. It is time to look at the opposition and compare these people with our candidates.
Here we must enter strange and foreign territory, the Prince William County Democratic Party’s website (here). Thus this list includes the candidates that Democratic Party will field in November 2007 as well as independents gleaned from the Potomac News (here).
General Assembly
- Senator, 29th District – Charles J. Colgan (D) is the incumbent, and Bob FitzSimmonds (R) is the challenger. This will be FitzSimmonds third attempt to win this seat. Hopefully, the third time is the charm.
- Delegate, 13th District – Bob Marshall (R) is the incumbent, and Bruce Roemmelt (D) is the challenger. These two gentlemen have competed before. In spite of Roemmelt greater financial support, Marshall emerged as the victor.
Constitutional Offices
- County Clerk of Court – Because Dave Mabie, the Republican incumbent, retired, this is an open seat. Bill Ryland (D), a local attorney (see here); Michelle McQuigg (R), currently the Delegate representing the 51st District (here); and Lucy Beauchamp (I), currently the Chair of the School Board (here), will compete for this seat.
- Commonwealth’s Attorney – Paul Ebert (D) is the incumbent. He has no Republican challenger.
- Sherriff – Glen Hill (R) is the incumbent, and Louis Dominguez (I) is the challenger. Elected four years ago, Hill has kept his promise to keep politics out of the Sheriff Office. So Dominguez, a former deputy of both Fauquier and Prince William counties faces an uphill campaign.
Board of County Supervisors
- Chairperson, Board of County Supervisors – Corey Stewart (R) is the incumbent, and Sharon Pandak (D) is the challenger. Stewart won this seat in a race against Pandak in a November 2006 special election.
- Brentsville District Supervisor – Wally Covington (R) does not have a challenger.
- Gainesville District Supervisor – John Stirrup (R) is the incumbent, and Corey R. Riley (D) is the challenger. Oddly, Riley is not listed on the Prince William County Democratic Party’s website. However, the Potomac News described (here) as a Democrat.
School Board
- Chairperson, School Board – This seat opened up when Lucy Beauchamp decided to run for County Clerk of Court. Milt Johns (R – Endorsed) then decided to run for the seat. Surprisingly, he appears to be unopposed.
- Brentsville District Member – When Milt Johns decided to run for the Chair, this became an open seat. Gil Trenum (R – Endorsed) will compete with Desi Arnaiz (I). This will be the second competition between these two gentlemen. Both men competed for the PWC GOP endorsement. That should have settled the issue, however, in violation of his pledge (see here and here), Arnaiz entered the race as an independent candidate.
- Gainesville District Member – Don Richardson (R – Endorsed) is unopposed.
Soil and Water Directors
- The PWC GOP endorsed three candidates: Austin Haynes, Alex Lucas, and Matt Brooks.
As you can see, there is such a thing as too much democracy. Trying to keep track a profusion of people running for so many different offices is more than most voters will bother with. Nonetheless, if you do vote, you will have a great deal of influence. That is because turnout in election years such as this is unusually light.
Over the next several months, in addition to tracking the progress of these various campaigns, we will take the time to compare and contrast candidate’s records and position statements. Next week, we will tackle the race for the 29th District Senate seat.
