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Lillard wins mayor’s race, Butler joins council

November 6, 2024 PVNPublisher 0

Mayoral candidates separated by only 204 votes among 2,443 ballots cast

By Randy Arrington

LURAY, Nov. 5 — Council member Stephanie Lillard defeated fellow council member and vice mayor, Ron Vickers, by 204 votes among 2,443 ballots cast in the race for Mayor of Luray. The 8-percent difference saw 1,310 ballots cast for Lillard (53.6 percent), while Vickers garnered 1,106 votes (45.3 percent). There were 27 write-in ballots.

The four-way race for three open seats on the Luray Council saw incumbents Jason Pettit and Joey Sours return for another four-year term, while Luray attorney Chuck Butler will become the newest member of Council in January. Pettit was the vote leader with 1,660 votes, while Butler won the third spot with 234 more votes than fourth-place finisher Robert Spencer.

Here’s a breakdown of the Luray Council vote:

Jason A. Pettit (incumbent) — 1,660 votes total, 33.7%
Joseph F. “Joey” Sours (incumbent) — 1,373 votes total, 27.9%
Charles A. “Chuck” Butler Jr. — 1,028 votes total, 20.9%
Robert M. Spencer — 794 votes total, 16.1%

It should be noted that the percentages above are slightly misleading, as voters were allowed to vote for up to THREE candidates for the three open seats on the Luray Council. Some voters cast a ballot for three candidates, and some voted for only one or two.

There were 73 write-in votes in the Luray Council race.

Wendy Temple Holtzman — the first candidate to file for the Luray Council back in January — submitted a Candidate Withdrawal form with the county voter registrar on Sept. 4 and just made the cutoff for being removed from the ballot. (See related story.)

Page County supported Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump with 76.4 percent of the vote, with 9,923 ballots — compared to 2,910 votes for Democrat Kamala Harris. The Republican ticket carried the day locally, with GOP candidate Hung Cao winning 72.1 percent (9,187 votes) against Democratic incumbent Senator Tim Kaine (3,540); and incumbent Ben Cline earning 77.3 percent (9,848 votes) over Democratic challenger Ken Mitchell (2,641).

The proposed amendment to the state tax code expanding real estate tax exemptions on the primary residence of spouses of military personnel “who die in the line of duty” passed in Page County by 94.8 percent, receiving 11,830 votes.

Among Page County’s 17,820 registered voters, a total of 13,054 ballots were cast in the 2024 general election — a voter turnout of 73 percent.

To view 2024 Election Results for Page County — CLICK HERE

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