Three Democratic candidates won the open spots on the Lynchburg City Council, according to unofficial results from the state Department of Elections late Tuesday.
Each of the candidates, Christina Delzingaro, Dave Henderson and Nat Marshall, tallied more than 12,000 votes, as of midnight. There was a more than 4,000-vote gap between the third- and fourth-place finishers at that time.
The Democratic slate flipped the three at-large council seats formerly held by Republicans, Mayor Larry Taylor, Marty Misjuns and Stephanie Reed, who all ran for reelection.
Tuesday’s vote ends what was a 6-1 Republican majority on council, which was often seen as divided by GOP infighting.
Nine candidates were on the ballot this year, including two rival slates of candidates seeking the Republican vote: Misjuns was joined by Veronica Bratton on one team, and Taylor and Reed were joined by Chris Boswell on the other. There were no official Republican candidates this year, in the aftermath of a nullified nomination process. Independent candidate Eli “Shawn Hunter” Rybinni also ran.
At an election result watch party on Tuesday night, the Democratic candidates said they were energized after seeing strong turnout at the polls.
“I think they’re really looking for change, they’re looking for a group of city council members that get along, that have a vision for the city and create a thriving community for every single member of our community,” Delzingaro said of the voters she met.
Henderson said he’s hopeful that Lynchburg “can find a way to come back together, because it does feel like for too long we have somehow gotten more and more divided.”
The slate’s campaign focused on “strong schools, affordable housing, smart economic development that makes the most of long-term infrastructure investments, and good-paying jobs” with the goal of bringing “competent, respectful governance” back to city hall, according to their campaign website.
Speaking to the group’s focus on education, Marshall said, “It’s not one big thing that causes the problem, it’s 1,000 scratches.”
“So in that same sense, we’ve got to come up with 1,000 different opportunities, and hopefully some will really make a difference,” he said of his plans for the work ahead.
Delzingaro said she knocked on more than 3,500 doors throughout the campaign process and heard that many residents “are not feeling seen, heard or valued” by the city council.
“So I think we have a real opportunity to kind of reset and put the residents of our community at the front and center of everything that we do,” she said of her goals moving forward.
