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The general election for 2015 was held on November 3.

City municipal elections included three open seats on Charlottesville City Council, four (unop) seats on the Charlottesville City School Board, two seats on the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District.

Three seats on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

Charlottesville

Voter turnout in the City: 19.6% (of the 31,039 registered voters, 6,077 voted in this election)

City Council

Three Democrats faced one Republican and an independent for the three Council seats were open.

The terms of Kathleen Galvin, Satyendra Huja and Dede Smith were to expire at the end of 2015 but Huja announced he would retire. Galvin would eventually win re-election joined Mike Signer and Wes Bellamy on Coucil in 2016. [1]

Huja announced he would not seek a third term, but Galvin and Smith sought nominations for second terms. Bellamy and Signer challenged Smith as well as Lena Seville in the June 9 primary. [2]

Web developer Anson Parker ran as the lone Republican nominee in 2015. [3]

Libertarian Scott Bandy ran for a second time.

Candidate Party Votes Percentage of vote Scott Bandy Libertarian 690 4.4 Wes Bellamy Democrat 4,657 29.67 Kathy Galvin Democrat 4,561 29.06 Anson Parker Republican 1,205 27.25 Mike Signer 4,278 7.68

Signer spent $51,305 in the general election compared to $28,632 spent by Wes Bellamy and $23,081 spent by Kathy Galvin. [4]

On June 9, 2015, voters in the Charlottesville Democratic Primary nominated Wes Bellamy, Kathy Galvin and Mike Signer for the three seats up for election. [5]

Smith placed fourth in the June 9 primary. Lena Seville also challenged the nomination and placed fifth.

Campaign anouncements

Signer, a business attorney, announced his candidacy on February 11, 2015 at the Downtown Transit Center. [6]

Audio of Signer's campaign announcement:

<play audio>http://s3.amazonaws.com/cville/cm%2Fmutlimedia%2F20150211-signer-announcement.MP3 </play audio>





Bellamy held his campaign declaration on February 15, 2015. [7]

Audio of Bellamy's campaign announcement:

<play audio>http://s3.amazonaws.com/cville/cm%2Fmutlimedia%2F20150215-Bellamy-Announcement.mp3 </play audio>





Seville announced her campaign at Bon on February 28, 2015. [8]

Audio of Seville's campaign announcement:

<play audio>http://s3.amazonaws.com/cville/cm%2Fmutlimedia%2F20150228-Seville-Announcement.mp3 </play audio>





Smith announced her campaign at West Main Restaurant on March 4, 2015. [9]

Audio of Smith's campaign announcement:

<play audio>http://s3.amazonaws.com/cville/cm%2Fmutlimedia%2F20150304-Smith-Announcement.mp3 </play audio>





Galvin announced her campaign at The Bridge PAI on March 11, 2015. [10]

Audio of Galvin's campaign announcement:

<play audio>http://s3.amazonaws.com/cville/cm%2Fmutlimedia%2F20150311-Galvin-Announcement.mp3 </play audio>





Audio of Parker's nomination speech:

<play audio>http://s3.amazonaws.com/cville/cm%2Fmutlimedia%2F20150530-Parker_Anson-nomination.MP3 </play audio>





School Board

The Charlottesville School Board seats held by Colette Blount, Amy Laufer, Jennifer McKeever, and Willa Neale were up for election.

Laufer sought re-election to another term [11] as did McKeever. Blount and Neale did not seek re-election.

The two other candidates on the ballot were Adam Hastings and Sherry Kraft.

Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District

Incumbents Rich Collins and John Conover announced they would not seek reelection. William Lucy, Joseph W. Thompson and Clement "Kim" Tingley ran for the two available seats.





Albemarle County

Board of Supervisors

In Albemarle County, the Rivanna, Scottsville and White Hall magisterial seats were up for re-election.

Democrat Norman Dill defeated Republican Richard Lloyd and independent Lawrence Gaughan to succeed Ken Boyd on the Rivanna District seat. [13]

Democrat Richard Randolph defeated Republican Earl Smith to succeed Jane Dittmar as the Scottsville representative. [13]

Democrat Ann Mallek faced no opposition in White Hall district. [13]





Rivanna District

The news of an open seat in the Rivanna District came when Ken Boyd announced he would not seek a fourth term. [14] Lawrence Gaughan originally filed for the Democratic nomination in the Rivanna District, but changed his status to independent once Democrat Norman Dill announced he would also seek the party's bid. [15]

Richard Lloyd ran as a Republican and faced no opposition during the nominating process.

Scottsville District

Jane Dittmar announced on April 30 that she would not seek a full four-year term in the Scottsville District. Dittmar was elected to a two-year term in a special election to replace former Supervisor Chris Dumler. [16]

Richard Randolph announced on May 4 that he would seek the Democratic nomination. [17]

Earl Smith ran as the Republican candidate in the Scottsville district. [18]

White Hall District

Ann Mallek announced on February 24, 2015 she would seek a third term to represent the White Hall district. [19]

She faced no opposition but six percent of the electorate wrote in a candidate. [13]

School Board

The Albemarle County School Board seats held by Ned Gallaway, Barbara Massie Mouly, Steve Koleszar, and Jason Buyaki were also up for election. Koleszar and Buyaki ran uncontested and won. [13]

Gallaway did not seek a new term because he is running for the state senate held by Sen. Bryce Reeves. [20]

Massie Mouly did not seek another term. [21]

Additionally, there was a special election to fill the seat being vacated by Eric Strucko. [22] Graham Paige won the election with 62.37 percent of the vote defeating candidates Michael Basile and Brian Vanyo. [13]

The candidates for the at-large seat were Catherine Lochner, J. S. "Jonno" Alcaro and Dolly Joseph. Alcaro won with 50 percent of the vote. [13]

The candidates for the White Hall seat were Caroll Hatcher and David Oberg. Oberg won with 55 percent of the vote. [13]

Buyaki and Koleszar ran unopposed and won.

Clerk of Court

There were three candidates for Clerk of Court. Incumbent Debbie Shipp ran as an independent because Democratic nominated John Zug for the seat. Franklin P. Micciche was the Republican candidate. Another independent, George W. Foresman, was also on the ballot.

Zug won with just over 50 percent of the vote, unseating Shipp. [13]

Commonwealth's Attorney

Democrat Denise Lunsford sought a third term but was defeated by Republican Robert N. Tracci in a close race. Tracci received 51 percent of the race. [13]

Sheriff

Chip Harding announced on January 10, 2015 that he will run for re-election as sheriff. The venue was the Albemarle Republican Committee breakfast. [23] He is the only candidate on the ballot and won handily.

Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District

The two incumbents, Steven G. Meeks and Lonnie Murray, were the only two candidates on the ballot. They both won.