Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Botetourt Co. incumbents keep positions on Election day
A supervisor and a school board member, both independents, won by large margins.
Related
roanoke.com/politics
Election Day 2009
- Video: Roanoke Republicans react to McDonnell election
- Video: Republicans Cleaveland, Griffith celebrate House victories
- Photo gallery: Images from Election Night
- Photo gallery: A day at the polls
Election Day 2009: Full coverage
Botetourt County Supervisor Terry Austin, a Republican who abandoned the party to run for re-election as an independent, overwhelmingly defeated the challenger the GOP had hoped would unseat him Tuesday.
Austin's victory, which highlights the power of incumbency over party politics, came at the expense of Republican Crystal Ware, a Buchanan town councilwoman whose unpaid county taxes briefly became a campaign issue.
Austin took 70 percent of the vote to win his fourth term as the supervisor representing Botetourt's Buchanan District.
"In local politics, people look more to the person and the accomplishments and not to party politics," Austin said. "I think people voted for the person."
In the other supervisor race, an unopposed Steve Clinton, a Republican, won re-election as supervisor from the Amsterdam District.
Austin had a falling-out with the leadership of the county's Republican party after he supported former Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, in his race for a U.S. Senate seat against former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Austin said the Republican leadership withheld its support after he backed Warner, so he halted his bid to win the party's nomination to run. The Republicans responded by nominating Ware, a donation consultant for LifeNet Health.
During the course of the campaign, though, it was disclosed that Ware owed $2,276 in back taxes to the county. She paid them, but the revelation forced her supporters to spend time defending her.
In the races for the Botetourt school board, incumbent Kathy Graham Sullivan bested Tom Wilbon in the Buchanan District. In the Amsterdam District, an unchallenged Ruth Wallace won re-election. All of the school board candidates ran as independents.
Sullivan, who earned her fourth term on the board, said the tough economy's impact on the school budget made her re-election important. "I believe it's a critical time to keep the continuity and keep doing what we've been doing in the past," she said.
