Cline Ousts Butler for Sheriff, Unopposed County Candidates Sweep Write-Ins, and Democrats Take Majority State Legislative Control

In Front Royal and Warren County, the major takeaways from Tuesday’s November 7th Election Day were the decisive margin of victory of Front Royal Police Department Captain Crystal Cline in her run to oust first-term Warren County Sheriff Mark Butler. That margin of victory was 9,497 votes (75.70%) versus 3,000 votes (23.91%), with 11 of 12 precincts reporting as of Wednesday afternoon. Then there were the across-the-board victories of essentially unchallenged, at least on the ballots, county board and school board candidates, some with at least perceived connections among some observers to the segment of the local Catholic community with ties to Christendom College’s socio-religious-political perspective. It was that perspective that seemed to spearhead the CleanUp Samuels Library (CSL) censorship, funding, and management control movement earlier this year.

As of Wednesday afternoon, those victorious candidates included:

Warren County School Board

Tom McFadden Jr., Shenandoah District School Board – 1,402 votes (61.6%) vs. write-ins (38.4%, 874 votes) with 2 of 3 precincts reporting;

Incumbent North River District School Board representative Melanie Salins 1,645 votes (85.14%) vs. write-ins (14.86%, 287 votes) with 2 of 3 precincts reporting;

In another County School Board race in the South River District, incumbent School Board Chairman Kristen Pence, 1,308 votes (53.56%) appears to have retained her seat against Christendom College employee and local Mothers for Liberty Chairman Leslie Matthews, 1,120 votes (45.86%), with 3 of 4 precincts reporting as of Wednesday afternoon. It might be noted that the Mothers for Liberty group has been associated with public library control movements across the nation. And the Samuels Public Library censorship and control movement here surfaced not long after the group’s arrival here. However, as noted above, that drive was publicly headed by the CSL group, which included self-identified local Catholics, many with direct connections to ultra-conservative Christendom College as students, alumni, or employees past and present.

Warren County Board of Supervisors

R.A. “Rich” Jamieson, for the North River Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Delores Oates successful run for the 31st District State House of Representatives, with 1,420 votes (68.73%) vs. write-ins (31.27%, 646 votes) with 2 of 3 precincts reporting. Some who have contacted Royal Examiner have suggested Jamieson as having done an about-face during his campaign, presenting himself as a Samuels Library supporter after what they perceived was support of the CSL anti-LGBTQ library content effort earlier in the year.

John Stanmeyer, Shenandoah District Board of Supervisors, 1,273 votes (55.20%) vs. incumbent Walt Mabe, 975 votes (42.28%), as well as 58 write-in votes (2.52%) cast, also with 2 of 3 precincts reporting. Stanmeyer has denied ties to the extremist element involved in the CSL effort.

Also unchallenged was incumbent South River District Supervisor Cheryl Cullers, who trounced write-ins with 2,154 votes (97.16%) to a meager 63 write-in votes (2.84%). During her first term Cullers has shown herself not to have been aligned with special interest groups, being one supervisor willing to repeatedly ask the hard questions of staff concerning monthly departmental budget submissions.

Town Council

On the Town side of the equation, in a Special Election for two council-appointed seats to fill vacancies, it appears appointed incumbents went one-out-of-two in a fairly tight race with one precinct left unreported. As of Wednesday afternoon, appointed incumbent Melissa DeDomenico-Payne was holding down second place, while appointee Duane “Skip” Rogers was trailing the field in fourth, and last, place. As things stood Wednesday afternoon Glenn Wood led the field with 1,711 votes (29.47%), DeDomenico-Payne was in second with 1,525 votes (26.27%), Connie Marshner was holding third place at 1,312 votes (22.60%), with Rogers at 1,190 votes (20.50%). We’ll see if those places hold when the final precinct is reported.

State Legislature

On the state side of the voting equation, Democrats held a State Senate majority by what appears to be a 21-18 margin, while gaining a Virginia House of Delegates majority by what’s been reported as a 51-48 margin.

That is likely to ruffle Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s 2024 presidential-nominee aspirations a tad. While not up for re-election himself, Youngkin threw himself into the pre-election fray, including pushing candidates supporting adding a State ban on abortions in Virginia to the sitting U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial federal ban of a previously granted Supreme Court citizen right, abortions for unwanted pregnancies.

See these and other results in Royal Examiner’s initial Tuesday evening report on Election Day results.