Ballot for May Town Elections Set

By LoudounExtra.com staff

Originally published at 11:13 a.m., March 5, 2008
Updated at 10:39 p.m., March 5, 2008

The filing deadline to be a candidate in May's town elections was 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Some of the most heated contests in Loudoun are in Purcellville, where Mayor Robert W. Lazaro Jr. is being challenged by former Town Council member Karl R. Phillips. Lazaro defeated Phillips in 2006.

Phillips leads a slate of three Town Council candidates who have pledged to drop a lawsuit against the county over its plans to build a high school at Fields Farm. Six candidates, including two incumbents, are running for three council seats.

Lazaro has opposed the school, saying it would violate a 1995 land-use agreement that requires town approval of the school's construction. He called Phillips a “one-issue candidate” and said that although a new school is needed to relieve crowding, allowing the county to violate its agreement with the town would set a bad precedent.

“A contract is a contract,” said Lazaro, who wants the county to pay for road and utility improvements to offset the impact of a new school. “The campaign is not about the high school. It's about leadership and judgment.”

Phillips said that the lawsuit, which has reached the state Supreme Court, has strained relations between the town and county and that it does not have a “legal leg to stand on.”

“The consequences are obvious: The relationship between the town and the county is horrible,” Phillips said. “I think it's the main concern people have in Purcellville. . . . I just think it's a huge waste of money.”

The candidates below will be on the ballot for the May 6 election.

Town of Hamilton: Three Town Council seats are up for grabs. Incumbents Craig M. Green, Patricia A. Maher-Wade and John D. Unger will be unopposed.

Town of Leesburg: Incumbent Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd will be unopposed. David S. Butler, Thomas S. Dunn II, incumbent Katie Sheldon Hammler and Frank H. Holtz will compete for three Town Council seats.

Town of Lovettsville: Incumbent Mayor Elaine D. Walker will be challenged by Richard T. Greene. Scott D. Dockum, Michael T. Senate and Shaun P. Staley are seeking three Town Council seats.

Town of Middleburg: Incumbent Mayor Betsy Allen Davis will run unopposed. Sara E. Bolton, incumbent Trowbridge Littleton, incumbent C. C. “Bundles” Murdock and Kathy Jo Shea will run for three Town Council seats.

Town of Purcellville: Incumbent Mayor Bob W. Lazaro Jr. will face a challenge by Karl R. Phillips. Candidates vying for three Town Council seats are T. Chris Bledsoe, Tom L. Larry, Joan S. Lehr, James R. Vogt, and incumbents Gregory W. Wagner and C. J. Walker III.

Town of Round Hill: John W. Heyner is unopposed in his run for mayor, while three candidates will seek three Town Council seats: R. Daniel Botsch, Scott T. Ramsey and incumbent Mary Anne K. Graham.

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