Chesterfield votes for change

Marleen Durfee (right) thanks her campaign volunteer coordinator, Karen Petron, at the victory party last week. Durfee beat out three other candidates to win the supervisor seat for Matoaca District. Five months ago, Chesterfield received a clue of what would happen on Election Day when Republican upstart Dorothy Jaeckle beat out the Republican establishment candidate Jack Wilson in the Bermuda District primary. Wilson looked to be the perfect candidate: a successful attorney with a public service record that included being on the county planning commission and serving as its chairman. But then he got tagged with the "D word" because Wilson's legal specialty is zoning and land use. "D" stands for development.

"There's anti-growth sentiment... a cultural change," speculated supervisor and Wilson friend Dickie King back in June. "Something's going on."

"I can hear the clarion cry for change," correctly predicted Lynne Cooper, spokesperson for the Chesterfield Democratic Committee. "Citizens want candidates who are connected to communities, not the development community. They'll be voting on issues, not for parties."

Current Bermuda District Supervisor Dickie King talks with Ree Hart after her defeat. Hart was hoping to replace King, who decided not to seek re-election earlier this year. And so it was last week, as voters cast aside two incumbent Republicans who were tagged as pro-development - Chairman Kelly Miller, after eight years of representing the Dale District, and Midlothian Supervisor Don Sowder, who was elected just a year ago to fill the term of disgraced former Supervisor Ed Barber. Jim Holland raised just a few thousand dollars to get elected in the Dale District while current Planning Commission Chairman Dan Gecker mostly relied on his own money to get elected in Midlothian.

In the Bermuda District, Jaeckle won over Democrat Ree Hart and Independent Roy Wallace, and in Matoaca District, Marleen Durfee was victorious over three rivals - Republican Mark Tubbs, Democrat Bill Hastings Jr. and Independent Eli Jones.

The 2008 board will now look more like Chesterfield - two white men, two white women and an African-American male. Clover Hill Supervisor Art Warren, the only incumbent re-elected, and Jaeckle are Republicans, Holland is a Democrat, and Gecker and Durfee ran as Independents. The current board is all Republican, but come next year, the establishment wing of the Chesterfield Republican Committee will no longer be represented on the board.

Turnout increased to about 42,000 voters, but 186,873 were registered to vote. "The voters had more races to consider, but only 4 percent more showed up," said Registrar Larry Haake.

During 2003, just 19 percent voted but there were far fewer contested elections compared to 2007 when there were more choices for voters with 23 percent voting. Last fall, when Republican George Allen battled Democrat Jim Webb for the U.S. Senate seat and the marriage amendment was also on the ballot, 50 percent of registered voters went to the polls.

"There is a general unrest with the status quo," surmised Democratic Political Consultant Abby Easter. "If you were there with an "R" [Republican], they didn't want to see you again for the board. Growth wasn't as big of an issue as it became, and then it combined with the uncertainty of the housing market and immigration into a perfect storm."

Polling done in the Midlothian District earlier this year indicated that 55 percent of respondents believed the county is headed in the right direction, but only 33 percent rated the board's performance as good or excellent. Shortly before the election, Gecker was ahead in the polls by 2 percent but within the margin of error of 4 percent. He won with 57 percent of the vote after garnering 47 percent last year running as a Democrat against Sowder.

"A political earthquake hit the county," said Republican Consultant Ray Allen. "If you were on the wrong side of growth, you got beat. Could people have possibly spoken more clearly about a mandate for change?"

The growth issue came to a head just as the political season was picking up steam. On Sept. 26, the board approved Branner Station with 4,998 homes followed by a revised Upper Swift Creek Plan (Oct. 10) that allowed more residential development in the watershed than recommended by the planning commission or planning staff. On Oct. 24, just 13 days before Election Day, the developer of the 5,140- home Roseland project received a deferral. Though both Branner Station and Roseland have been praised for utilizing "smart growth" principles, some citizens point to the sheer size of the planned communities.

With four candidates vying for the Matoaca District seat, Durfee surged ahead and won with 43 percent of the vote. The after-election party at Emilio's restaurant was jubilant.

"This is absolutely amazing," proclaimed Durfee while standing on a chair to address supporters. "There has been so much grassroots support that I can't thank everyone enough."

The applause continued intermittently throughout her extemporaneous speech as she praised supporters by name. "I'm going to work you even harder, Wayne," she promised Planning Commissioner Wayne Bass who had endorsed her and will stay on in that appointed position.

"Marleen put out three mailers attacking her opponents," explained Easter. "You have to have a message that resonates and then communicate it with the voters."

According to Amy Satterfield who made numerous random calls on behalf of Patty Carpenter's campaign to represent the Midlothian District on the school board, growth was on the voter's minds. "Growth crossed over into every demographic group," she said.

"Parents with children were not happy because Bettie Weaver [Elementary School] has [classroom] trailers," Satterfield added. "I think it hurt Don [Sowder] when he endorsed Eric [Finkbeiner] for the school board because people knew how hard Patty worked to get the school bond issue passed."

Earlier this year, Finkbeiner edged out Carpenter for the Republican Party endorsement and was endorsed by numerous individual Republicans holding local and state offices, but Carpenter was elected.

"And some of the voters were angry about the tenant mix at the Watkins Centre not being upscale," Satterfield continued. "They're still going to cross the river to shop."

"This is going to be a fascinating four years on the board because people know that Dan Gecker has been a Democrat all of his life, and the Republicans have some issues to work out as a party," predicted Easter. "An interesting question is whether Art Warren has inoculated himself with his district or whether he could win against real opposition."

Unknown in Clover Hill District and running as an Independent, Floyd Bayne garnered 25 percent of the vote, spending less than $200 on his campaign.

"This election reminds me of 1991," said Clover Hill Planning Commissioner Russ Gulley. That year, two incumbents were defeated, and two decided not to run. The number one issue in the county was growth.