| Sharla Bardin

sharla.bardin@roanoke.com, 381-1669

The winners in Tuesday's Blacksburg Town Council election credit their victories to straightforward messages, the support of family and friends and their roots in the community.

Voters on Tuesday chose incumbent Susan Anderson and newcomers Krisha Chachra, Cecile Newcomb and John Bush to serve on the council. The four were among the top vote-getters in each of the 10 Blacksburg precincts.

Chachra, 33, said Wednesday she thinks voters were excited about her council bid.

"There was a lot of energy in my campaign," she said. "I feel like I ran a very positive and straightforward and on-message campaign. People knew what I stood for and who I was and my character."

Chachra also said, "I'm honored to have run with all of the candidates because I feel like they were very well qualified and very strong candidates."

She is a Virginia Tech doctoral candidate in the urban affairs and planning department.

Anderson said she is grateful to continue on the council, where she has served since 2006. "I pledge to continue to do my best to be a good steward of Blacksburg and with their help to work hard to create a better Blacksburg for us all."

Anderson has lived in town since 1980 and has been involved in community and campus organizations. She is a senior instructor in Tech's math department.

"I think most people know that I work hard on tasks," she said. "I think most people trust me to do the right thing and know that I try to be fair."

Bush said his campaign was boosted by support from his friends and neighbors. He also said that living in the town for 25 years has allowed him to get involved in the community and "I know a lot of different people through a lot of different ways."

"I also think my background as an architect was attractive to people in terms of development," he said.

Bush, 46, is a staff architect for Virginia Tech and also works in the office of the university architect.

Newcomb, 44, said she knows a lot of people in the town and thinks her work on town committees helped her campaign. "I feel like I ran a very honest campaign, as far as who I am, my experience and what I have to offer."

She also said she thinks she prepared well for the candidate forums and made herself available to residents during the campaign season.

Newcomb works part time as a certified Home Energy Rating System rater and is the business director of Energy Check.

Turnout for the Blacksburg election was unavailable Wednesday, Registrar Randy Wertz said.