While primary elections will be held next month for a number of contested seats across Virginia, there are no party primaries in June for either state or local candidates in Gloucester and Mathews counties.
The deadline for candidates to file for a primary election has come and gone, said Mathews Registrar Carla Faulkner, and the Republican and Democratic candidates for the Virginia Senate’s 26th District, which Mathews and Gloucester are now part of, are set. They are Republican Ryan T. McDougle and Democrat Pamela R. Garner.
Republican incumbent M. Keith Hodges is the only candidate who has announced he will run this year for the House of Delegates’ newly-drawn 68th District, which includes Mathews and most of Gloucester. The Democratic Party still has until June 20 to file a candidate for the seat, said Faulkner.
Locally, there were no races for any seats in either county that required a primary election.
New districts
This is the first election for state-level candidates to be held locally since the state finished drawing new voting districts following the 2020 census.
The new Virginia Senate District 26 is composed of Mathews, Gloucester, New Kent, and parts of King and Queen, Hanover, and James City counties.
The new House of Delegates District 68 is composed of Mathews, most of Gloucester, and large portions of Middlesex, Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties.
Gloucester Point’s Hayes and Sarahs Creek precincts were carved out of Gloucester and are now in House of Delegates’ District 69, which also includes parts of York County, James City County and Newport News. The only candidate to file thus far for that seat is Republican W. Chad Green of Yorktown, a member of the York County Board of Supervisors.
Ryan T. McDougle, the Virginia Senate candidate, is a Hanover County resident. He has been a member of the Senate since 2006, previously serving District 4, which covered all of the Northern Neck except for part of Westmoreland County, along with Essex and Middlesex on the Middle Peninsula; parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, King George, and Hanover; and all of Caroline County.
Sen. Tommy Norment of Williamsburg, who has represented Gloucester County and other localities in Senate District 3 for eight terms, and Sen. Lynwood Lewis of Accomac, who has represented Mathews County and Eastern Shore counties in Senate District 6 for five terms, both previously announced they will not seek reelection.
Gloucester candidates
The only two candidates who have qualified with the voter registrar’s office thus far for seats on the Gloucester Board of Supervisors are incumbent Gloucester Point District Supervisor C.A. “Chris” Hutson and incumbent At-Large Supervisor Ashley C. Chriscoe. Both are running as Republicans. John C. Meyer Jr. is in the process of qualifying to run for the Abingdon District Seat, said Gloucester Voter Registrar Bobbi Morgan, and there are no candidates thus far for the Ware District seat.
Gloucester School Board candidates who have qualified thus far are Ware District independent candidate Leonne M. Arsenovic, At-Large independent candidate Cindy M. Saulman, and incumbent Ware District board member Darren P. Post, who is running for an At-Large seat as an independent this time.
Two other Ware District candidates for the school board are in the process of qualifying—David Conway Seabolt and James “Jim” W. Pike Jr. There are no candidates currently listed for the Abingdon or Gloucester Point district seats.
The only Constitutional officer in Gloucester who is being challenged thus far this year is Commissioner of the Revenue. Incumbent Jo Anne Harris, who has qualified as the Republican candidate, is being challenged by independent Sarah A. Narron, whose candidacy is now in process.
The remaining Constitutional officers are currently running unchallenged as Republicans. They are Commonwealth’s Attorney John T. Dusewicz, Sheriff Darrell W. Warren Jr., Treasurer Tara L. Thomas, and Circuit Court Clerk Cathy L. Dale.
There are currently no candidates for directors’ seats on the Tidewater Soil and Water Conservation District board.
Morgan reminded voters that because of redistricting there will no longer be voting at Bethel Elementary School. She said the boundary line changed, requiring many voters to be shifted to different precincts.
Mathews candidates
As of Tuesday afternoon, no candidates had yet qualified with the Mathews voter registrar for the three At-Large seats that will be on the ballot this year for the Mathews County Board of Supervisors.
The Mathews County School Board has three seats up for election this year, and thus far two candidates are listed with the registrar’s office: Marianne Gibbs and Calvin Gayle Morgan.
Three Constitutional offices have more than one candidate to have qualified thus far. Current Clerk of Court Angie Ingram announced her retirement earlier this year, and candidates for the position so far are Elizabeth A. Brown and Carrie Phillips Cullison.
For the position of Mathews Sheriff, candidates who have qualified are April L. Edwards and Albert S. “Sid” Foster, both current sheriff’s office employees who are running as independents.
Incumbent Mathews Commissioner of the Revenue Leslie L. “Les” Hall is running as an independent, challenged by independent candidate Christian A. Collier.
T. Marie Walls, currently serving as chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney for Gloucester, has qualified and is the only candidate listed thus far running for Mathews County Commonwealth’s Attorney. She is an independent. Current Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Bowen announced his retirement earlier this year.
The only person who has qualified thus far for the office of Mathews Treasurer is incumbent Wendy H. Stewart.
No candidates have yet qualified to run for seats on the Tidewater Soil and Water Conservation District board.
For more information about elections, visit local registrars’ websites: Gloucester, Bobbi Morgan, gloucesterva.info/349/Elections-and-Voter-Registration; Mathews, Carla Faulkner, mathewscountyva.gov/251/Voter-Registrar.