Two new members to join Supervisors and School Board

Thomas takes BOS chair by nearly 1,000 votes; Baldwin wins D1 seat; Queen heavy winner in D5 School Board race; District 1 write-in battle uncertain

By Randy Arrington

LURAY, Nov. 4 — Republican candidates won all races across the board in Page County, according to unofficial election results released Tuesday night. In addition to heavy margins for statewide candidates, the GOP pushed their candidates over the top against independents in local races as well. The final result is one local incumbent unseated and two new faces joining both the Page County Board of Supervisors and the Page County School Board.

The most watched race across the county was that for chairman of the Page County Board of Supervisors. Republican nominee Clifton B. “Bucky Thomas captured 55.5 percent of the vote and edged out independent challenger Jared A. Burner by 954 votes. Thomas drew 4,486 ballots, to Burner’s 3,532 votes.

Thomas won all five precincts across the county, with the largest margin coming in District 5 where the Republican candidate won by 354 votes (800 to 446) in the Shenandoah area. Burner’s closest battles came in District 3, where he lost by only 54 votes (652 to 598) in the Stanley area, and in District 4, where he fell short by 80 ballots (500 to 420). In the northern end of the county, District 1 results favored Thomas 647 to 351, and he won 589 to 458 in District 2. There were 68 write-in ballots.

The three-way race for the District 1 seat on the board of supervisors was the most competitive, with 1,781 votes spread out among a Republican, two independents and 15 write-in ballots. GOP nominee J. Jeremy Baldwin won the District 1 seat with a plurality of 42.6 percent of the vote (759), surpassing second-place finisher Michael A. Montgomery by 214 votes and third-place finisher D. Keith Guzy by 297 votes. Montgomery captured 30.6 percent of the vote (545), while Guzy earned only 25.9 percent (462).

Districts 4 and 5 on the board of supervisors will see uncontested incumbents Susan K. Kile and Jeffrey P. Vaughan, respectively, return to their seats. Both candidates drew about 98 percent of the vote in their district, with 29 write-ins for each uncontested race. Unofficially, Kile earned 1,257 votes, while Vaughan dew 1,412 ballots.

Republican Chapman L. Good remained unopposed for the Commonwealth Attorney’s seat, earning 98.4 percent of the countywide vote with 7,377 ballots. There were 120 write-in ballots. Good started working in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office in late summer as an assistant around the same time that Luray Councilman Chuck Butler dropped out of the race after not receiving the GOP nomination.

The only other contested race in Page County centered on the District 5 school board seat. M. “Charles” Queen Jr. won the two-way race with 63.2 percent of the ballots. Queen earned 1,039 votes, compared to 596 for Ana Maria Mendez. There were nine write-in ballots.

District 4 school board representative Duane E. Painter won his uncontested bid for the chairman’s seat with 96.9 percent of the vote, or 7,147 ballots. There were 229 write-in ballots. Once Painter takes the oath for chairman in January, the school board will need to appoint a District 4 representative within 45 days of the vacancy.

The winner of the District 1 seat on the school board will be announced in the coming days, as no names appeared on the ballot and all write-in votes will have to be verified. Dan Bogdewic and Bette Schmidt both declared themselves as “official” write-in candidates for the office.

Jerry R. Dofflemyer returns to the Luray Council after winning an uncontested special election to fill the remainder of Stephanie Lillard’s council term through Dec. 31, 2027. Lillard won a two-way race last November with Councilman Ron Vickers to become mayor, thus vacating her council seat in January. Former mayor (and former councilman) Dofflemyer was appointed to the seat in February. He won 97.2 percent of the vote on Tuesday, with 1,515 ballots. There were 43 write-ins.

Page County voters overwhelmingly supported Republican Justin L. Pence in his bid for the 33rd District seat in the House of Delegates. Pence earned 76.2 percent of the local vote with 6,996 ballots, compared to 2,175 votes for Democratic challenger Catherine E. “Cathy” Rec. Pence won 73.6 percent of the vote across the district (25,771 to 9,160).

Although Democrats swept the top three statewide offices on the ballot, Republican candidates drew heavy support in Page County. Republican Winsome Earle-Sears won 74.6 percent of the vote locally (6,909 to 2,333), even though Democrat Abigail D. Spanberger won the office with about 57 percent of the overall vote statewide.

Democrat Ghazala F. Hashmi won 55 percent of the vote statewide in the Lieutenant Governor’s race, while Republican John J. Reid II won 76 percent of the vote in Page County (6,996 to 2,189). Democrat Jay C. Jones won Attorney General by the closest margin statewide at 53 percent, while Republican Jason S. Miyares won 78 percent in Page (7,161 to 2,005).

Overall, the 2025 general election drew a 52 percent voter turnout in Page County, with 9,314 ballots cast among 17,902 registered voters.

To check Page County’s 2025 UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS,

CLICK HERE.

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