Rematch for Midlothian supervisor possible next year
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Sowder

Next year, Midlothian District residents could be choosing between the same candidates for supervisor - Republican incumbent Don Sowder or Democrat Dan Gecker. Sowder has already declared his candidacy in 2007 when all supervisors' seats are open, and Gecker indicated he would decide whether to run early next year. There could be independent candidates too.

But for the next 12 months, the possible opponents will have to work together on a number of zoning cases since Gecker's term as Midlothian planning commissioner runs through 2007. That's mandated by state law, unless he decides to resign. Sowder said he hadn't talked to Gecker about his position on the planning commission and hadn't thought of a replacement if Gecker should resign. Gecker said he plans on completing his term as commissioner.

Sowder won with 11,738 votes (53.5 percent) compared to Gecker's 10,164 (46.5 percent). Of those in the Midlothian District who voted, 1,565 chose not to vote for either supervisor candidate.

Registrar Larry Haake called that "ballot fall off" where races further down the ballot generally have fewer votes cast. "It's unusual to see that many not vote for the supervisor race, but then it was a special election," he said.

Gecker

The race for the U.S. Senate had only 238 persons casting a ballot who declined to vote for any of the candidates. Incumbent Republican George Allen carried the Midlothian District with 60.4 percent while Democrat Jim Webb got 38.5 percent and the independent candidate claimed the rest.

Gecker pointed out that he received eight percent more votes than Webb in the district. By implication, that meant Sowder received about 7 percent less than party ticket leader Allen. But supervisor candidates do not have party affiliation listed on the ballot. Some observers in both parties believe the race could be closer next year when all the supervisor seats are open, and no national races will be on the ballot.

Sowder attributed his victory to identifying with voters. "The difference was what was in the voters' minds, and the voters seemed to like what they saw," he said.

"If I do this again," observed Gecker, "we need to be better organized. We put our organization together in 60 days. The Republican committee had their people in place, and Don had been district chairman for Midlothian for several years. The Republicans had poll workers everywhere throughout the day, and we didn't. But that wouldn't account for 1,500 votes [the approximate difference in votes between Sowder and Gecker]."

"We're an experienced organization," agreed Republican State Senator Steve Martin, who was disappointed that Chesterfield fell short of delivering enough votes for Allen to beat Webb statewide. Chesterfield was expected to have a margin of more than 20,000 votes over Webb's total.

"Dan did better in the eastern part of the district where he lives, and I did better in Midlothian where I live," explained Sowder. Gecker concurred that he spent more time campaigning in the eastern part of the district.

In the waning days of the campaign, each candidate peppered Midlothian District households with direct mail. Sowder mainly stressed his Republican endorsements, aligning himself with former Governor Jim Gilmore, State Senator John Watkins, Delegate Lee Ware and other county Republicans. One mail piece labeled Gecker "a Democrat developer" and "a multimillion dollar developer." Gecker does redevelopment, but not in Chesterfield.

Gecker's direct mail effort focused on growth and identified Sowder as being "for the developers." One mailer read that Sowder "received thousands of dollars" from big developers. "He'll rubber stamp anything they want." Sowder was endorsed by the Home Building Association of Richmond.

According to its executive director, the Alliance for Responsible Growth of Chesterfield stayed out of the Midlothian race. "Gecker co-opted our message," said Marleen Durfee. She pointed to the school board race in Dale District, where there were five candidates, and indicated that there could be more new candidates countywide in races for supervisor and the school board next year.