This year’s November election saw nearly quadruple the total number of voters turn out as during the city’s previous at-large city council elections held in May 2018.
This year’s election brought 23,756 of the city’s registered voters, or 42.5%, to the polls, compared to just 6,411, or 12.2%, who voted in 2018.
Voters chose three new members to join council, electing Republicans Martin Misjuns, Stephanie Reed and Larry Taylor to represent the city at large in the 2022 city council elections.
The new councilors will replace incumbents Treney Tweedy and Beau Wright, who finished fourth and fifth in the race, respectively. The other at-large seat on council was held by Randy Nelson, who did not seek reelection and resigned from council the day before Election Day.
In addition to the city council race, Virginia’s 5th Congressional District seat was also on the ballot, where incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Good defeated Democratic challenger Josh Throneburg.
People are also reading…
A state law passed last year moved all May local elections to November. In years prior to this change, turnout in local elections had dropped precipitously in just three cycles.
In 2010, 31.8% of voters turned out to vote in May’s at-large city council elections. That figure dropped to 17.4% in 2014 and to 12.2% in 2018.
In 2022, Lynchburg Registrar Christine Gibbons said, Ward I had the highest turnout percentage citywide, with 54.2% of registered voters casting ballots. Ward IV came in second with 46.1%, followed by Ward III at 36.2% and Ward II at 31.6%.
Gibbons said the precinct with the highest Election Day turnout was Ward I’s First Christian Church, which had 43.3% of voters casting their ballot Nov. 8; while Bedford Hills Elementary, also in Ward I, saw the highest number of actual voters on Election Day with 1,661.
The precinct at Liberty University, located in Ward III, had the lowest turnout percentage of any precinct on Election Day, with 9% of registered voters casting a ballot, or 392 total votes; while the city’s second smallest precinct, Jubilee Center in Ward II, saw the fewest votes, with only 303 votes cast on Election Day.
After LU, the lowest turnout percentage precinct was Robert S. Payne Elementary School in Ward II, which saw only 18.4% of its 4,824 voters cast a ballot.
David Richards, chair of the political science department at the University of Lynchburg, believes moving local elections from May to November did exactly what its backers set out to accomplish.
“Clearly moving these elections to November has increased turnout,” Richards said.
But he also believes the highly contested city council race played a big part in the surging turnout, not just being alongside a congressional race.
“I think that’s probably reflecting city council, because people were pretty excited in Lynchburg about that. I think absent an exciting city council race, the numbers would have been a little bit lower because there was no statewide race,” Richards said when asked if he was surprised the 2022 turnout numbers approached those seen in Lynchburg in 2021’s gubernatorial election.
In the 2021 gubernatorial election, 45.6% of registered voters, or 24,953 voters, in the city cast ballots, compared to 42.5%, or 23,756 voters, in the 2022 elections.
This year, seven candidates entered the race for the three seats on council.
While the number of candidates was similar to previous at-large elections, fundraising was not.
The seven candidates combined raised well over $300,000, smashing totals set in the previous three at-large council elections.
But with 2022 elections being at large, residents across the city choosing from the same selection of candidates, Richards said it will be interesting to see the 2024 election results, which will feature ward voting, meaning each voter will cast a ballot for a councilor from their designated ward.
Because Lynchburg’s local elections will be on the ballot alongside a presidential race for the first time in 2024, Richards believes more candidates could embrace having the backing of a major political party, which appeared to be a driving force in the elections of Misjuns, Reed and Taylor.
In the past, candidates for city council have largely run as independents. But Richards believes national politics have seeped into local politics to the point that it’s almost necessary to identify with a major party.
“If I was a political strategist, I would say that things have changed [in local politics] and you probably would have to have some sort of party ID,” Richards said. “Because if you’re not, then your opponent is. And they’re going to take that advantage.”
To view the full results of the 2022 Lynchburg at-large City Council elections, visit the Virginia Department of Elections results page at elections.virginia.gov/resultsreports.