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Upsets, new faces, old regimes in Bath Co.
 | | Julie Brinkley (left) and Janet Plecker review election results at the end of the evening. Brinkley ran a strong third in the race for Bath's clerk of the court dominated by two candidates working under current clerk Darlene Carpenter. Plecker finished second in a three-way race against incumbent commissioner of the revenue Leta Norfleet, who retained her office. Like most of the other candidates, both women had wind burned faces from being out in the cold at polling places all day. Brinkley seemed to have had enough of politics, but Plecker said she learned a lot and might run for office again in the future. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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WARM SPRINGS - Election Day in Bath ended with a mixture of messages from voters as some incumbents did well against solid opposition, predicted write-in challenges failed to materialize in strength, hard fought open races stayed unpredictable to the end and one school board seat changed hands in an upset.
Based on official results from the Bath electoral board, all incumbents running for re-election won except Millboro school board member Kaye May, who lost to Dreama Burns. The open constitutional offices of sheriff and clerk of the court were won by Larry Norfleet and Wayne Winebriner, respectively.
In the most watched race, retired State Trooper Larry Norfleet squeaked past Chief Deputy Timmy Dunnagan to become the next sheriff. As results from precincts came in to the clerk's office, Dunnagan held an early lead in what remained a tight three-way race between Dunnagan, Norfleet and Deputy Jay Bryan.
Norfleet said Wednesday morning his win, and votes for other candidates outside the current sheriff 's department, mean voters "want a change within the department." But Norfleet isn't looking to clean house, he said. All deputies will be "offered a position."
Like other winning candidates, Norfleet said he appreciated the support of those who voted for him. He felt the six candidates for sheriff all ran "a clean campaign for everybody." Norfleet, who was fighting a cold Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, also echoed another common statement among candidates: "We're all tired."
"The work begins now," Norfleet added. In his campaign he pledged to bring new fresh ideas to the department to make Bath a "safer place to live."
Outgoing clerk of the court Darlene Carpenter handled the duties of reading returns to the approximately 75 people gathered in the courthouse halls and overflowing into the district courtroom. She was on hand to congratulate one of her own deputies, Wayne Winebriner, as her replacement.
Winebriner ran a close race against fellow deputy Annette Loan, who finished only 89 votes behind him out of more than 2,000 votes cast in the race. Of the three other candidates who work outside the clerk's office, Julie Brinkley came in third in the race, 500 votes behind Loan.
Voters felt experience within the office was an advantage in continuing the high level of excellent service Carpenter has established. Winebriner said he hopes the office will continue to serve people as in the past.
He said he expects all existing staff, including Loan, would continue to work in the office. "It has been the experience of a lifetime running for public office," said Winebriner.
In the Cedar Creek district, supervisor Percy "Buzz" Nowlin survived another close race, while school board member Eddie Ryder easily held on to his seat in the face of a last minute write-in campaign.
Four years ago, Nowlin garnered only 52 percent of votes in beating challenger Tim Fitzgerald by 14 votes. This year, Nowlin managed only 44 percent in his 18-vote victory over challengers Carl Chestnut and Johnny Camacho.
Chestnut said he "made a real good run," and seemed to be in good spirits, his grandchildren in the courthouse with him waiting on returns. "I have nothing to be ashamed of," said Chestnut of his first time tossing his hat into the election ring.
Though he is a newcomer to the politics of running for office, Chestnut is no stranger at supervisors' meetings and he pledged to continue to bring issues before the board. Like fellow candidate Camacho, Chestnut believes the young people of Bath County must get involved in the future of the county or "we won't have nothing," he said.
While the race for office was over, Chestnut continued his campaign for county residents he feels are at risk. He sees taxes as the big issue facing the county, and he is concerned many elderly people will "never make it through the winter" in the face of rising fuel costs.
Most candidates, winners and losers, were red faced from a long day in the cold wind at polling locations around the county, but they weren't as talkative as Chestnut. Many had no comment other than, "I'm glad it's over." Campaigning had been particularly and unusually intense for races in Bath County.
Sheriff's deputy and coach Robert Plecker mounted a last-minute write-in challenge to long-term school board member Eddie Ryder. Plecker managed to land 77 votes for the office in the Cedar Creek district, far from Ryder's 247. Plecker had name recognition around the county and managed to pick up write-in votes for school board and supervisors in districts where he wouldn't qualify as a candidate.
In other write-in campaigns, Deputy Jeremy Cutlip managed only 46 write-in votes in his challenge to unseat Jake Cleek from the Warm Springs school board seat Cleek had won by write-in four years ago. In that race, Cleek gathered 163 write-in votes to beat incumbent Ron Pozun by 46.
The closest write-in contest was Bart Perdue's run to upset Warm Springs supervisor Jon Trees. Trees had managed a fairly low key campaign until the last weeks of the season when Perdue began to make waves.
When the unofficial votes were read Tuesday night, only three write-in votes for the Warm Springs supervisor seat were announced by Carpenter. Perdue supporters immediately began doing the math and figured about 100 votes were missing from the total.
They weren't far off the mark with their calculations. On Wednesday afternoon, the electoral board reported 98 write-in votes for Perdue in Warm Springs and 14 in Mountain Grove for a total of 112. That total still fell far short of the 255 votes cast for Trees.
Dreama Burns credited her win over incumbent school board member Kaye May to door-to-door campaigning and talking one-on-one with voters. "It wasn't easy," said Burns of her first run for public office.
May currently is chair of the school board and has been widely praised for her work with Eddie Ryder on the subcommittee overseeing renovations at the high school.
Burns said she has a lot of respect for May and along with other Millboro residents, appreciates the four years May served. She didn't plan to run against May when she first decided to enter the school board race, thinking she lived in the Williamsville district.
But once she found out she was in Millboro, she continued with her decision to run. "I will not be taking the people's trust lightly," said Burns. She thinks residents voted for her because showed she "had a deep concern for the education system and for the people of the district." Burns would like to see more parental involvement in the schools and plans to "really listen to them," she said.
In the only open seat on the school board, Joyce Hevener defeated Krystal Criser in the Williamsville district. Oneterm Williamsville school board member Kay Hicklin won the seat four years ago in an uncontested race and declined to run again.
Barbara Waldeck, appointed to the board in January to replace Sarah Redington, who resigned, begins her first full term after running unopposed for the Valley Springs district.
Only the Millboro supervisor seat was open to challenge without an incumbent, as current board chair Cliff Gilchrest decided earlier in the year not to seek a second term. Carol Hardbarger and William Manion both ran on a platform of experience.
Manion served as county administrator in Bath for many years and returned to the job on a temporary basis last year after Claire Collins left to take the helm in Covington. In addition to experience in local government, Manion promoted his conservation political and fiscal views.
Hardbarger prevailed in the minds of voters with her years of experience in education, winning the seat by 55 votes out 419 cast. Hardbarger will join Burns on the school board in January with the budget process already under way.
In the Williamsville district, incumbent and unchallenged supervisor Stuart Hall was easily returned for another term with only six write-in votes recorded against him. The incumbents easily won in the other constitutional offices, though the actual process of winning didn't seem easy to them. Mary Susan Blankenship took 62 percent of the votes cast in the three-way race for treasurer. "I'm wore out," she said Tuesday night, though she added, "I enjoyed it."
Leta Norfleet returns to the office of commissioner of the revenue, putting Norfleets on both sides of the driveway into the courthouse complex. Norfleet won handily over her two opponents with 68 percent of the more than 2,000 votes cast in the office.
Janet Plecker finished second in the race for commissioner and like other candidates was wind burned and tired. But the excitement was in her face as she gathered her notes and kept track of the returns. Even though they lost this year, Chestnut, Camacho, Janet Plecker and other candidates may not have been bitten by the political bug for the last time.
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