Despite his best last-ditch effort, Tony Spencer’s hopes of returning to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office next year were dashed on election night when John Mahoney raked in more than twice the votes cast for any write-in candidate for CA.
With 3,864 votes to the 1,888 garnered by write-ins—Spencer or otherwise—Mahoney’s victory was clear from the get-go. In no precinct did write-ins manage to obtain more votes than King George’s former assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Similarly, incumbent Sheriff Tony Lippa won every precinct against opponents Chris Wooldridge and Charles Garnett, ending up with 3,724 votes to Wooldridge’s 1,630 and Garnett’s 1,200.
At the end of the day, the real nail-biter of the 2015 elections was the Clerk of the Circuit Court race.
Up to the final precinct numbers that rolled in, it was unclear whether Charity Baker, Susan Minarchi or Terry Southworth would walk away with the clerkship. But at the last moment, Minarchi inched ahead to snag 2,224 votes compared to Southworth’s 2,154 and Baker’s 1,981.
The other surprises of the night were the ousters of two long-running supervisors: seven-term Madison Supervisor Wayne Acors fell to newcomer Clay Forehand 507 to 604, and six-term Port Royal Supervisor and current chairman Calvin Taylor lost to Port Royal Mayor Nancy Long 357 to 421.
The Mattaponi races were tighter than expected, with Board of Supervisors incumbent Floyd Thomas edging out challenger Milton Bush 599 to 480, and School Board incumbent Nancy Carson defeating upstart Jamey Lewchanin 612 to 447.
Thomas, who appeared at the Registrar’s Office as the Milford precinct results were being read out, seemed tense. Asked for a comment about his victory, he replied succinctly, “Thank God.”
Long, reached by telephone, told the Progress, “I’m honored by the support of the citizens, and I’ll do my best to serve them.”
Forehand similarly expressed gratitude to his supporters but also struck a more subdued note: “Now the real work begins.”
-CP Reporter Sarah Vogelsong
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