Some thoughts about the election…

Let’s take a look at some random thoughts about the election and how it affects the Southside area.

• First of all, We give the highest thanks of all to Star News crew. Matt Smith & Blaine Zigler worked behind the big blue wall to get us the most accurate election results and coordinated all of the phone calls. They made our job look easy. I’d also be quite amiss if I didn’t think Mark Childrey. He’s truly a class act and one of the best anchors in the region. We had a great time on the set for our LIVE! ElectionCentral coverage and we also thank all of our SouthsideCentral readers for tuning in and logging on. We also give special thanks to station owner Charles Roark for having the confidence in what we do and giving us the chance to promote SouthsideCentral while providing as-it-happens information. This was the biggest LIVE! event ever on SouthsideCentral and we look forward to keeping it growing.
• Let’s start off the election thoughts by going over the one race that goes into the “Horrible Prediction” category. Man, did we ever blow the Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney race. As you saw in our endorsement, we felt it was time for some productive changes in policies & procedures in the office. The voters of Danville told us that we were full of crap by giving Mike Newman a majority win in the election. As I said on TV, Claudette Robertson & Jim Martin have absolutely nothing to regret because they ran great campaigns. If  anybody is ever in the need of an attorneys services, they won’t go wrong in hiring Martin or Robertson. We’re working on a BreakDown of the CA’s race, but it’s clear that voters preferred the same type of CA that they’ve had for the past forty years.
• In another surprise, Mike Mondul won the Danville City Sheriff’s race by a closer margin that anybody predicted. Mondul defeated Thelbert Childress & Wayne Booth in a 47-43-10 election. Booth’s vote percentage was as expected, but Childress made it a very interesting night by keeping it very close. Just like the CA’s race, we’re working on a BreakDown of the numbers, but it’s looking like that the city’s voters were divided on racial lines.
• Seward Anderson’s campaign completed the meltdown by only pulling 36% of the vote against incumbent Danny Marshall. Anderson’s campaign never really defined him as a viable alternative to Marshall and the vast disparity in funding set an impossible hurdle in Anderson’s path. Marshall’s starting to look unbeatable after this victory and his tough win over Adam Tomer in 2007. We’ll see if Marshall rides his level of success to new heights in the House of Delegates this year.
• Switching over to Halifax County, there will be three less Superintendent Paul Stapleton supporters on the School Board very soon. With Anderson & McDowell retiring (though we’re betting they would have lost in they had ran for re-election) and Kim Farson’s defeat of long-time incumbent Arthur Reynolds, is anybody else thinking that Stapleton will be taking “early retirement” in the next year?
• Halifax County voters sent a strong message to the Board of Supervisors by soundly rejecting the meals tax initiative. Let’s see if the BoS listens.
• Let’s hear it for Pittsylvania County’s Callands-Gretna District voters who passed the Sunday beer/wine sales initiative.  Let’s see if the rest of the county finally moves into the 21st century. Gretna voters also approved liquor-by-the-drink. Fred Ingram deserves kudos for forming a coalition to bypass the 4-3 roadblock that usually divides most of the Pittsylvania County BoS’ decisions.

All in all, a very interesting election. We’ll have some election BreakDowns coming up this week.