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We’re heading down the home stretch in this year’s fall elections. Early in-person voting that began Sept. 22 concludes this Saturday, Nov. 4. The actual Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Next week this time – Wednesday, Nov. 8 – we should know the results of the elections.
Much is at stake locally and statewide. In Buena Vista, voters will be selecting three members of City Council from among seven candidates and three members of the School Board from among five candidates. There are contested races for Rockbridge County treasurer, Buffalo District supervisor, Buffalo District School Board member and Glasgow mayor.
All 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly are up for grabs. There are three contested races for three seats in the General Assembly in which three reconfigured districts encompass portions of or all of the Rockbridge area – state Senate District 3 and House of Delegates districts 36 and 37.
The outcome of the state legislative elections will determine which political party controls the state Senate and the House of Delegates. Currently Democrats hold a slim majority in the Senate and Republicans a slight majority in the House of Delegates. An issue that could prove pivotal in deciding which party prevails is access to abortion because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
The abortion issue did not come up at last week’s forum for local General Assembly candidates. An issue that was discussed in which candidates offered very different positions was legalization/decriminalization of marijuana. We urge voters to read our coverage of the forum to find out where each candidate stands on this issue.
Something that was brought up at the forum, and in a recent letter to the editor, was the relatively young age of one of the candidates for the state Senate, Jade Harris of Glasgow. A 2016 graduate of Rockbridge County High School and 2020 graduate of Mary Baldwin University, Harris is in her mid-20s. We view this as a non-issue. She acquitted herself well when she was asked about her age, noting that she would represent Generation Z, young adults who constitute a significant portion of the population she would serve. We should point out that our congressman, Ben Cline, was not yet 30 when he was first elected to the House of Delegates.
In addition to our coverage of candidate forums, we have profiled nearly all of the 43 local candidates who have put themselves up for election this year. All but two chose to participate in our profiles. We will note that three of the seven candidates for Buena Vista City Council did not participate in a candidates forum for that office held last week. Those who didn’t participate missed an excellent opportunity to present their case for election directly to the voters. We thank the chamber of commerce for offering this opportunity.
Whether you cast a ballot early or head to the polls on Tuesday, we urge you to vote. The functioning of our representative democracy depends on everyone exercising this most precious of rights.
