Official winner of mayor’s race to be revealed soon
By Randy Arrington, publisher
It’s been nearly a week since Election Day and residents in the Town of Shenandoah are still not sure who their mayor will be in January. However, the wait is almost over, and the outcome will likely not be a surprise. We hope to publish final 2024 election results either late Tuesday or on Wednesday.
As of Monday, the Virginia Department of Elections website is showing 100 percent of the precincts in Page County reporting. The site was last updated Sunday afternoon. Some of the totals are different from Election night — but typically, only by one to four votes in local races. Some statewide candidates added as many as two dozen ballots to their tally. However, the changes don’t seem to have actually altered any races.
The Page County Electoral Board will be meeting Tuesday afternoon to certify all votes and enter final counts. The vote becomes official once certified by state elections officers, which could take a bit longer. At Tuesday’s electoral board meeting in Luray, all provisional ballot results will be included and all math errors corrected, according to Page County Registrar Carol Gaunt, thus potentially changing some prior totals until the official Statement of Results is filed.
Memories of Mike Uram’s successful run for the Stanley Council several years ago, makes us cautious to predict or assume — but we will apply logic to the three mayoral races in the county, and their final outcome. In Uram’s case, Election Night results showed him just missing a spot on council; however, the final count awarded him the seat several days later.
In Luray, council member Stephanie Lillard held a 204-vote advantage on Election Night over fellow councilman and vice mayor Ron Vickers (1310 to 1106). Since Sunday’s update, that margin has grown to 210 votes. Lillard gained seven votes in the update (the most among local races), while Vickers only picked up a single ballot. The 8.6-percent margin and 210 votes seems too much to overcome for Vickers as final adjustments are minimal. Lillard should remain the top choice for mayor of Luray.
In Stanley, incumbent Mayor Michael Knight totaled 431 votes on Election Night, compared to 308 write-ins ballots for mayor. Sunday’s update showed one more vote for Knight and two additional write-in ballots. Assuming every write-in ballot was cast for write-in candidate, Councilman Doug Purdham, (which is statistically unlikely), it would still not be enough to unseat the two-term mayor. Knight will hang on to the gavel in Stanley.
In Shenandoah…well, that’s where the real mystery lies, but basic logic would presume that there will be a new mayor in Page County’s southern-most town. Opposite of the vote count in Stanley, the number of write-in ballots for mayor in Shenandoah total more than what the incumbent, Clinton Lucas Jr., drew at the polls. That margin stood at 35 votes on Election Night with 1,119 ballots cast. Sunday’s update showed two additional votes for Lucas and no new write-ins, narrowing the gap to just 33 votes, or less than 3 percent. While it is unlikely that every write-in vote went for write-in candidate, Councilman Chris Reisinger, it is safe to assume that the vast majority did. With that logic, we expect Reisinger to be named the new mayor of Shenandoah this week, by a margin of about 2.5 percent — or about two dozen votes.
Reisinger earned the most votes in a five-way race for three open seats on the Shenandoah Council, with 780 ballots. While he appeared on the ballot for the council race, he not appear on the ballot for the mayoral race. The official answer as to who’s name was on all those write-in ballots should be revealed in the next 48 hours. Be patient, and hang in there.
In the Shenandoah Council race, the third-place candidate for the third and last open seat on council was Mike Lowe with 438 votes. Lowe gained two votes in Sunday’s update, while Reisinger and second-place Brenda Haggett both gained one vote each. Write-ins for council tallied 418 votes — and it should be assumed that those votes were split among two write-in candidates, Gary Red Taylor and Ana Maria Mendez. Even if all of those votes went one way, it would still not be enough to overtake Lowe. There were no additional write-in votes for Shenandoah Council added on Sunday.
If Reisinger wins the race for mayor, that would create another vacancy on council. Remaining members would have 45 days to appoint someone to that seat. The council could look to the next highest finisher among the two write-in candidates, or they may appoint someone else completely.
This was the sixth time that Lucas has been challenged for his gavel since May 1990.
Countywide, it seems that 47 votes were added on Sunday to Page County totals, bringing the number of registered voters to 17,867 and the total number of ballots cast to 13,101. Voter turnout remains at 73 percent, as reported on Nov. 6.
To view 2024 Election Results for Page County — CLICK HERE
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