Democrats garner big numbers in BoCC race
Gazetteby Sherry Greenfield
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Even though only 24 percent of the registered voters in Frederick County cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election, their message seemed clear. They want a Board of County Commissioners who will control growth.
Though 2,000 absentee ballots are still being counted, it is evident that six of the nine successful candidates moving on to the Nov. 7 General Election favor low or controlled growth.
Of the six, four are Democrats who ran unopposed, since five or fewer from each party move onto the General Election.
The four Democrats also garnered the highest number of votes, beating out Republicans.
They included Commissioner Jan H. Gardner with 10,427 (30 percent), Kai Hagen with 8,693 (25 percent), Richard M. Floyd at 8,043 (23 percent) and Ron Wolf at 7,511 (22 percent).
As the primary results stood Wednesday, Gardner’s high numbers could land her the prestigious job of president of the Board of County Commissioners.
But Gardner is not resting on her laurels. ‘‘I feel I did very good,” Gardner said Wednesday. ‘‘I’m very excited. ... But I think the campaign starts today, and I am certainly going into high gear.”
On the Republican side, Commissioners Michael L. Cady and John R. Lovell took the top two spots, respectively.
Cady finished with 7,173 votes (11 percent) and Lovell was close behind with 7,169 (11 percent).
Cady, Lovell and Charles A. Jenkins, who finished fourth in a pack of 14 Republican candidates with 6,719 votes (10 percent), are considered pro-growth candidates.
The three, along with candidates Billy Shreve and Joan McIntyre, were endorsed by the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and the Frederick Countians for Real Republicans, a property rights political action committee.
Shreve finished sixth with 6,586 votes (10 percent) and McIntyre came in seventh with 5,838 (9 percent).
Real Republicans launched a fierce campaign just weeks before the election in support of their slate — Cady, Lovell, Jenkins, Shreve and McIntyre — and against Commission President John ‘‘Lennie” Thompson Jr. (R) and challenger David Gray (R).
The committee attacked Thompson and his voting record in mailers, newspaper and television advertising.
Voter’s did elect Cady, Lovell and Jenkins, but were not swayed by the group’s campaign tactics.
Thompson finished in third place with 6,946 votes (11 percent) and Gray finished fifth with 6,689 (10 percent).
‘‘I know we would get one of the two [Thompson or Gray],” said committee chairman Walter T. Mills. ‘‘I was afraid of that. I put Lennie in the mix, although I hoped it wouldn’t happen. He has a very powerful base out there. ... I’m very happy with the three we have, and I applaud Mr. Gray and Mr. Thompson. They won against adverse publicity. I give them all the credit in the world.”
Mills said they would now concentrate their efforts on getting Cady, Lovell and Jenkins into office. ‘‘We will naturally support the ticket,” he said. ‘‘It would be foolish at this point to turn the ship around.”
But Mills is especially disappointed that Shreve, who was in the top five during the early results Tuesday evening, in the end did not make it through. ‘‘He would really have lent a calming face to the board,” Mills said.
Shreve is hoping the absentee ballots will give him enough votes to pull off a surprise.
‘‘Right now, it’s very close, and there are a lot of absentee ballots, so we won’t know for another few days,” he said. ‘‘They’ll have five precincts in absentee ballots. It’s good to have a tight race. We’ll find out when it’s done.”
Meanwhile, Cady and Gray are thrilled with their wins.
‘‘I’m very happy with the outcome so far,” Cady said. ‘‘I think people have observed over the last four years that I take my job seriously and I do it to the best of my ability. I didn’t knock on a single door. I didn’t stand out at a single intersection waving a flag. I just did my job. I’m really delighted with the outcome and I’m looking forward to the general election.”
Gray says his win and that of Thompson’s, and the Democrats overwhelming victory, is due to the hotbed issue of growth.
‘‘All along in my past I’ve been concerned with growth,” said Gray, who served as a county commissioner from 1994-2002. ‘‘I couldn’t do it without those people who are concerned with that.”
Where does Gray go from here?
‘‘We’re going to work and get the message across ... that we’re serious about growth,” he said.
The remaining Republicans finished as follows: Micky Fyock at 3,931 (6 percent), Edward Lulie at 3,887 (6 percent), Elaine Kessinger at 3,300 (5 percent), Samie Conyers at 2,531 (4 percent), Ronald S. Bird at 2,139 (3 percent), Thomas C. Henderson at 1,075 (2 percent) and Stan Mazaleski at 979 (2 percent).
— Staff writers Ingrid Mezo and Katherine Mullen contributed to this story.
WHY I'M VOTING FOR KAI!
Sarah B. Dorrance
Mt. Airy
I HATE politics. I trust my elected officials with the duties that they have sworn to uphold and I leave it at that. Unfortunately, when elected officials do not meet the standards that you expect, something has to change. I'm grateful to Kai for being willing to run for Commissioner and I am happy to support him. Personally, I'm very concerned about land issues. We are collectively removing any vestiges of the Frederick County we...
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