By Mac Trammell Voters in Buena Vista decided they liked how their government has been run the past four years. The roughly 6,500-person city elected three out of four candidates who have been part of the city government the last four years. In Tuesday’s vote for three at-large seats, Steve Baldridge and Lisa Clark won back their seats on the city council while Larry Tolley, currently a councilman, won an uncontested race for mayor. “[I] look forward to working with Steve [Baldridge] again for four more years,” Clark said on election night. “I think we came on as a team,…
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By Rachel Stone Chris Billias was elected Tuesday as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Rockbridge County and the City of Lexington. Salerno’s was packed with supporters that night as the ad-hoc Republican election headquarters. With the crowd cheering as votes came in, Billias beat Josh Elrod with 56 percent of the votes.
By Polina Noskova The Virginia Horse Center has reached a tentative agreement with Rockbridge County to allow some of its land to be developed as playing fields. The county would hold the lease agreement, while the various users of the field would contribute what they can. Youth sports teams would use the fields, and so would the sponsors of several tractor pulls.
by Adam Beam FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republicans continued their slow takeover of Kentucky politics on Tuesday by electing only the second GOP governor in four decades. Matt Bevin, a graduate of Washington and Lee University, defeated Democrat Jack Conway with 52 percent of the vote. Independent Drew Curtis was a distant third with just more than 3 percent. Republicans have dominated federal elections in Kentucky, but moderate Democrats have maintained control of state government. Bevin’s election gives Republicans control of the executive branch along with a commanding majority in the state Senate. Democrats still have an eight-seat majority in…
By Anna Akins Incumbent Republican Ben Cline easily survived a challenge from Democrat Ellen Arthur in the race for Virginia’s 24th District House seat. Arthur, a retired Lexington attorney, conceded before all precincts were reporting. Cline, a popular six-term incumbent, had 65 percent of the votes. Arthur, a retired Lexington attorney running for public office for the first time, had 35 percent. Arthur carried Lexington, though, 58 percent to 42 percent. Virginia’s 24th House District includes the cities of Lexington and Buena Vista, parts of Amherst and Augusta Counties and all of Bath and Rockbridge Counties. Speaking to supporters at the Democratic headquarters on Nelson Street,…
By Rachel Stone Republican Chris Billias has been elected Commonwealth’s Attorney for Lexington and Rockbridge County. Billias said his opponent, Independent Joshua Elrod, called him to concede defeat. “I appreciate this moment,” Billias said, “and I will do the very best I can.” With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Billias captured 56 percent of the vote to Elrod’s 44 percent. But Elrod beat Billias in Lexington, 60 percent to 40 percent. Billias is the chief deputy under retiring Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert “Bucky” Joyce, who threw his support behind Billias. Some viewed Billias as essentially an incumbent. Elrod has been an…
By Emma Deihle Voter turnout was low in Tuesday’s off-year general election for Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista, according to local registrars. While numbers of those who voted had not be fully counted Tuesday night, turnout appeared to be similar to 2013. Two years ago, with a governor’s race but primarily local races and no races in Lexington, voter turnout in Lexington was 39 percent and 20 percent in Buena Vista. Despite the projected low turnout, some voters Tuesday found that having any election was enough motivation to vote. “It’s my duty. This is where I live,” said Lexington…
By Polina Noskova J. Richard Clemmer and James R. “Jay” Gilliam won the two Rockbridge County seats on the Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District. Clemmer and Gilliam ended with 28 percent and 32 percent of the votes, respectively. The other candidates were Bernard W. Goodbar and Sandra W. Stuart. Katherine “Kip” Brooks and S. Morris Trimmer, running unopposed, have won the two Lexington seats on the district board. The Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District was formed in 1939 and is the fourth largest in the state. It aims to protect the community’s natural resources at a…
by Mac Trammell and Katie Wildes In the first highly contested city council race in years, Buena Vista voters have voted on six candidates to fill three council seats, and elected Council Member Larry Tolley, unopposed, as mayor. Steve Baldridge, Lisa Clark, and Bill Fitzgerald maintain the lead for city council. Voting was not complete by the end of the evening, and officials say results were confirmed at 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Currently, Baldridge is on top with 529 votes, according to the count at City Hall. Clark followed with 524, and then Fitzgerald with 448. The other candidates,…
COLUMBUS (AP)—Voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have made Ohio the first state to make marijuana legal for both recreational and medical use in a single stroke. The initiative’s failure follows an expensive campaign, a legal fight over its ballot wording and an investigation into the proposal’s petition signatures. The constitutional amendment dubbed Issue 3 on the ballot would have allowed adults 21 and older to use, buy or grow certain amounts of marijuana. It also would have established a regulatory and taxation scheme while creating a network of 10 growing facilities. Those growing sites were targeted in…