by James C. Sherlock

Political bloggers, including this one, tend to focus on Virginia’s largest jurisdictions.

But the Commonwealth, and certainly our democracy, is distinguished also by its small towns. The efforts of the citizens of those small jurisdictions to govern themselves on local matters are inspiring. They provide a lesson to the rest of us.

Using the Virginia Department of Elections local offices website, I have compiled some facts about this election in Virginia. The downloaded data highlight those small towns.

One thousand three hundred and nine Virginia citizens are running for local office. That is one out of every 5,884 adult citizens of the Commonwealth overall. But in Virginia’s small towns, it takes a lot higher level of participation to make things run. Though often it is the bad ones who make headlines, writ large we owe all of the candidates our thanks.

Of the candidates for local office,

• 34 are running as Democrats, 27 as Republicans and the rest as independents.
• 583 are incumbents

Participatory democracy at a very high level. Of Tangier’s 241 residents, 13 are running for mayor or town council. Of Clinchco’s 244, four are running for mayor.

Small towns sometimes have a hard time mustering competition for difficult jobs with little or no pay. All candidates for mayor and town councils are running unopposed in the following towns. As noted, some do not have sufficient candidates to fill the open seats:

• Abingdon
• Appalachia
• Alberta
• Bedford
• Bloxom – five candidates for six seats
• Boydton
• Bridgewater
• Capron – five candidates for six town council seats
• Chase City
• Chilhowie
• Claremont
• Clarkesville
• Courtland – five candidates for six town council seats
• Clintwood
• Coeburn
• Craigsville
• Crewe
• Culpeper
• Dendron – four candidates for six town council seats
• Dungannon
• Exmore
• Fries
• Gate City – two candidates for three town council seats
• Glasgow
• Glen Lyn
• Hallwood – two candidates for six town council seats
• Hamilton – two candidates for three town council seats
• Hillsboro
• Hillsville
• Independence
• Ivor
• Keller – five candidates for six town council seats
• Kenbridge
• Keysville
• Kilmarnock
• LaCrosse
• Melfa – four candidates for six town council seats
• Middletown
• Montross – three candidates for four town council seats
• Mount Jackson
• Nassawadox – three candidates for six town council seats
• New Market
• Painter
• Pamplin
• Parksley
• Phenix – four candidates for five town council seats
• Port Royal
• Pulaski
• Rocky Mount
• Saxis
• Scottsburg
• Shenandoah
• Stanley
• Stephens City
• Surry
• The Plains
• Timberville – two candidates for three town council seats
• Troutville
• Victoria
• Vinton
• Virgilina
• Wachapreague
• Wakefield
• Waverly
• Weber City
• White Stone
• Windsor – two candidates for three town council seats
• Woodstock

Cities and counties print the ballots and run the elections. Sometimes that complicates voting for town offices. The following Virginia towns are in more than one county:

• Belle Haven – Accomack and Northampton Counties
• Farmville – Cumberland and Prince Edward
• Grottoes – Augusta and Rockingham
• Jarratt – Sussex and Greensville
• Kilmarnock – Lancaster and Northumberland
• Pamplin – Appomattox and Prince Edward
• Saltville – Smyth and Washington
• Scottsville – Albemarle and Fluvanna

Distinctive nicknames filed:
N. D. “Rocky” Holcomb III, the incumbent, is running for sheriff in Virginia Beach. Aldo “PeaceMaker” DiBelardino is running for sheriff in Virginia Beach against Rocky. Others:

• Cal F. “Cash” Jackson-Green, Jr. – running for city council in Virginia Beach
• Andrew S. “Gumby” Breton – running for city council in Richmond
• P.H. “Cruz” Sherman – running for school board in Richmond
• Arnette D. “Love” McSwain – running for school board in Portsmouth
• LaKeesha S. “Klu” Atkinson – running for school board in Portsmouth
• Bill L. “Coach” Clear – running for town council in Chilhowie
• Bryan R. “BPG” Pearce-Gonzales – running for Mayor of Winchester
• David W. “Major Dave” Goetze – running for city council in Waynesboro
• Gary D. “Po-Boy” Hall – running for town council in Pound
• H.R. “Poley” Branham – running for town council in Clinchco
• Jeremiah W. “Tiny” Neal – running for town council in Cleveland
• Michael R. “Tiny” Parks – running for town council in Tangier
• James W. “Ooker” Eskridge – running for mayor of Tangier
• LeOtis L. “Turkey Man” Williams – running for city council in Suffolk
• Linda “Latifah” Muhammad – running for school board in Petersburg
• Takessa C. S. “Keisha” Walker – running for school board in Danville
• Vanless D. “VD” Worrell – running for mayor of Newsoms

In the family. Samuel H. Bloxom, Jr. is running for town council in Bloxom. Daniel Keith Bloxom, Jr is running for town council in Onley. Both towns are in Accomack County.

The peculiar case of Richmond. Mayoral candidates in Richmond, uniquely, are each listed in each of the nine wards rather than once each as at-large candidates.

All nine school board candidates in Alexandria are running unopposed.

Bottom line. Again, we need to thank those who choose to run. The Commonwealth, and the United States, could not function without them.