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Del. Ellen Campbell is completing a week in office today, Wednesday, after being elected last Tuesday, Jan. 10, to the 24th District seat in the House of Delegates left vacant by the Dec. 13 death of her late husband, Ronnie Campbell.
The Republican nominee in the special election, Campbell collected 62.46 percent of the votes to defeat Democratic nominee Jade Harris. Campbell was sworn in the very next day, Wednesday, Jan. 11, and began her legislative duties immediately.
Campbell won Rockbridge County with 61.45 percent of the votes and Buena Vista with 68.1 percent. In Lexington, Harris was the choice of 72.32 percent of voters. Election turnout in the Rockbridge area ranged from 13.5 percent in Buena Vista to 26.8 percent in Lexington and 27.3 percent in the county.
The 24th District encompasses all of Rockbridge County, Buena Vista, Lexington and Bath county, and parts of Amherst and Augusta counties. Campbell will represent this configuration of the 24th District only through the remainder of this year.
On Nov. 7, all 140 members of the General Assembly will be up for election in reconfigured districts. Campbell lives in northern Rockbridge County in new District 36. If she chooses to seek reelection, this will be the district from which she will run.
Campbell has had a 30-year career in banking, with her most recent position being with the Lexington office of Farm Credit of the Virginias. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Averett University and also graduated from the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. A native of Verona in Augusta County, she is a 1987 graduate of Fort Defiance High School.
