RECENT COMMENTS
Council race begins in June August
The deadline to file petitions to get on the ballot for the City Council 7th District contest this November is Tuesday, June 9 August 21, 2009. Cynthia Newbille has made clear her intent to run for the position. Has anyone put their name forward? What does the 7th District need in a representative?
The election in the fall will be to choose the individual to serve out the last 3 years of the term originally given to Delores McQuinn. McQuinn very quickly made the choice to run for State Delegate seat vacated by the newly elected Mayor Dwight Jones. After some controversy, Betty Squire was appointed to temporarily fill McQuinn’s seat until the election. While Ms.Squire has done a solid job holding down the position, this is not the same as having had elected representation.
Of note, as this is a special election to fill a sit that is not currently held by an elected representative, the winner of the election will not have to wait until January and will instead take the office in November.
Given the current controversies and the new and historic challenges faced by the communities of the 7th District, what qualities would make for a good City Council representative for the area? Has anyone stepped forward to make this a contested election?
Because this is a special election and because of the date when the vacancy occurred, the filing deadline for this office is actually August 21, 2009. Information for candidates and the filing forms are available on the State Board of Elections’ website: http://www.sbe.virginia.gov.
Thank you Ms. Showalter, I thought the June filing date was very early!
Thanks JK!
Dang, I blew that. Thanks for the clarification.
John, you didn’t blow anything. I thought it was way cool that Ms. Showalter herself posted here, complete with her email address going to the city gov site, it just shows this blog is getting attention from the registrar of elections! Yay!
John – your original question still stands – “Has anyone stepped forward to make this a contested election?”
Except it’s now WILL someone PLEASE step forward to make this a contested election? That “please” comes from me!
C’mon, folks – somewhere out there is a viable candidate who can beat Henry Marsh at his game of being in charge of the 7th district and calling all the shots up here. I’ve personally worked on what, three or maybe four campaigns, and I’d love to work on one that actually wins against Marsh’s machine.
Do you have a person who can appeal to both the demographics in the Seventh District? Can he or she raise money, a ot of it? Probable will need close to $50 K.
The current structure in the east end has been successful because they are organized, they have grass roots contacts who will work both before and on election day, and they are perceived to deliver for 50% +1 of the voters.
Does anyone know the current demographics of our neighborhood?
Obviously, if the majority of the neighborhood is low-mid income, African-American, Church-going folks, then the would-be candidate is going to have to appeal to, cater to, and vote on behalf of those folks.
I feel like a lot of the mid-upper income, white residents of our neighborhood often forget that they are not the majority, but still expect to be treated as such.
Without any editorial comment, the census bureau has some updated projections (probably about a year old), that have a lot of information. But the gross overview is that the Seventh District is about 70% African-American, well below median income, high unemployment.
Crd, this will be a contested election. How can I get in contact with you?
Paperwork is already in the works for this to be a contested election in our district. I look forward to the coming months of meeting everyone!
so who is running?? In order to win this district there needs to be only one person running against Newbill because to many candidates will dilute the vote. # 11 can you respond to me privately and deanna please contact me as well at my home number. Thanks
will do 🙂
wow, this will be exciting. there will be a challanger to the marsh candidate for 7th district city council in the november election, but the identity of the candidate is a secret. with that kind of strategy, what would be the result?