June 18, 2025: Fleisher and Wade win Democratic nominations for City Council; Duncan defeats Shreve for Jack Jouett seat in Albemarle
Plus: Hamilton to face Ratcliffe in 62nd House District
President James Madison signed a declaration of war against the United Kingdom of Great Britain on this day in 1812, beginning a conflict that lasted over two and a half years. The vote in Congress was split on party lines. Our world today is influenced by actions from that time, as the world a hundred years now will be patterned after those of day. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a raspy whisper in an ever-present hurricane. I’m Sean Tubbs for now.
In today’s installment:
Jen Fleisher received the most votes to become a nominee for Charlottesville City Council in the November election
Sally Duncan won the Democratic nomination to represent the Jack Jouett District on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors
The Democratic slate for statewide races is now in place and a quick look at how Albemarle and Charlottesville voted
Republican voters in Greene County chose a nominee for the 62nd District in the House of Delegates
Charlottesville City Council learns about what the Human Rights Office has been up to in the past year
First-shout: WTJU’s Third Rail to feature Pinkish this Friday
This Friday, WTJU’s Third Rail program travels across Charlottesville to the IX Art Park for a free concert.
WTJU Rock and Hello Goodbye Records will present Charlottesville Pop/Punk/Emo act Pinkish. The concert will be held at the Rabbit Hole, the inside bar & stage area next to The Looking Glass at IX Art Park. While the concert is free, donations to the band are highly encouraged. You can also listen on 91.1 FM, stream via wtju.net, and video stream on WTJU’s YouTube Channel.
The occasion? A new album from Pinkish! To get ready for the show, listen to their 2024 release, Half Sweet, on Bandcamp.
Fleisher and Wade win nomination to City Council; Pinkston places third
An incumbent City Councilor failed to secure a nomination for re-election in the first official use of ranked-choice voting in Charlottesville.
Only one round of counting was necessary for two candidates to achieve enough votes to qualify for the ballot.
Newcomer Jen Fleisher received 3,108 first or second rank votes and Juandiego Wade received 2,216 first or second rank votes. That equates to 50.56 percent for Fleisher and 36.05 percent for Wade. In a race for two seats, a threshold of 33 percent was enough to go through to the general election.
Brian Pinkston received only 823 first or second rank votes, or 13.39 percent of the vote. Pinkston placed fourth in a five-way race for three seats in the 2019 primary and second in the 2021 primary.
Pinkston and Wade ran a joint campaign with all fundraising going through a political action committee called the Wade-Pinkston Victory Fund.
Pinkson is the first sitting Councilor to lose a nomination since 2015 when Dede Smith placed fourth in a five-way race three slots on the ballot. The same thing happened to Julian Taliaferro in 2009 when he placed third in an “unassembled caucus” for two Democratic nominations.
With no independent candidates or Republican candidates having filed, Charlottesville will now have an uncontested general election for the second cycle in a row.
“I am deeply grateful to Charlottesville voters for placing their trust in me, and I’m so looking forward to the work we can do together,” Fleisher wrote in a statement.
Fleisher is a resident of the Belmont neighborhood. Wade and Pinkston are both residents of the Locust Grove neighborhood.
According to unofficial reports, turnout was 18 percent with 6,257 ballots cast out of a pool of 34,705 registered voters.
The executive director of a group that advocates for this method of voting said its first use in Charlottesville was a success.
"Tuesday's results demonstrate that ranked choice voting delivers on its promise of diverse representation," said Sally Hudson, Executive Director of Ranked Choice Virginia. "Charlottesville voters got two winners who come from different corners of our community. One lives on the north side and one lives on the south side.
Ranked Choice Virginia is a project of the Virginia Organizing Project, a group that serves as fiscal agent for many progressive causes.
In 2023, Hudson ran in an unsuccessful primary against fellow Democrat Creigh Deeds for the 11th Senate District.
Albemarle County opted not to move ahead with ranked choice voting for this election cycle after a discussion last August.
Arlington County is the only other locality in Virginia to have passed an ordinance to use ranked choice voting. Only two candidates were vying for the Democratic nomination for the sole seat on the County Board up for election this fall, so the method was not used. Incumbent Takis P. Karantonis got 64.14 percent of the vote. He was first elected in 2020 in a special election.
Duncan wins Democratic nomination to Jack Jouett District
There are three seats up for election on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors this fall, but only one of them will be contested on the ballot.
In the Jack Jouett District, Sally Duncan won the Democratic nomination to succeed Diantha McKeel as Supervisor. Duncan received 726 votes compared to 451 votes for David Shreve. That’s 61.68 percent of the vote.
“I was the third highest fundraiser across the state of the 160 Supervisor races,” Duncan said in a statement. “While I was supported by people who want to build homes, I was also supported by so many local community members who believe in me and my goals.”
No Republican or independent candidates filed for the Jack Jouett District which means Duncan will be unopposed in November.
McKeel endorsed Duncan in the race. McKeel was first elected in 2013 after defeating another candidate that year.
Democrat Supervisor Ned Gallaway is the lone candidate for the Rio District on the Board of Supervisors. He was first elected to the seat in 2017 and did not have an opponent that year or in 2021.
The only race in Albemarle County this fall will be in the Samuel Miller where Democrat Fred Missel will face Republican Scott Smith.
In her statement, Duncan said she takes three conclusions from her victory. The first is that voters are in support of building more housing. The second is that it is time for a new generation to cake over.
“My opponent relied heavily on the support of long-time leaders,” Duncan said. “I think this election shows that people want to look forward, not backward.”
Duncan also said voters want an elected official who will put the time in.
“I am so excited to continue this work, and follow in the footsteps of Supervisor McKeel, whose support and encouragement has been invaluable,” Duncan said.
I’ll have a rundown on who made the ballot for School Board in Albemarle and Charlottesville in a future edition.
Hashmi gets Democratic nod for Lieutenant Governor; Jones to be Attorney General nominee
The November ballot is now set for Virginia’s three statewide races.
Voters in the Democratic primary selected Ghazala F. Hashmi as the nominee for Lieutenant Governor. The Virginia Senator received 131,511 votes or 27.47 percent of the vote.
Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney placed second with 127,742 or 26.69 percent. Delegate Aaron Rouse (D-15) came third with 125,814 votes or 26.15 percent of the vote. There were three other candidates in the race.
The race for Attorney General was much closer with Delegate Jay Jones (D-89) receiving 242,774 votes, or 50.95 percent of the vote. Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor got 49.05 percent or 233,755 votes.
Hashmi and Jones fill out the Democratic slate of candidates with former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger won the nomination without a primary challenge.
All three Republican candidates won without a contested race.
Lieutenant Governor Winsom Earle-Sears is seeking to become governor and did not face a primary challenge
Radio show host John Reid became the Lieutenant Governor candidate in April when another candidate dropped out for health reasons.
Attorney General Jason Miyares is seeking re-election.
Hashmi carried Albemarle County with 3,717 votes compared to 2,147 votes for Stoney and 1,574 for Rouse.
Taylor carried Albemarle County with 51.04 percent of the votes compared to 48.96 percent for Jones.
Charlottesville voters also favored Hashmi with 2,541 votes, or 42.93 percent of the total. Stoney placed second with 1,256 votes and Rouse had 815.
Jones carried Charlottesville over Taylor with 54.01 percent of the vote, or 3,226 votes.
Overall turnout in Albemarle County was 11 percent with 9,962 ballots cast out of a pool of 87,676 registered voters.
Karen Hamilton gets Republican nomination for House District 62
Republican voters in Greene County had only one race on the primary ballot this year.
Delegate Nick Frietas decided to retire from the House, leaving an open seat for District 62.
In the primary election, Karen Hamilton defeated R. Clay Jackson 2,439 votes to 1,760 votes. That’s 58.09 percent.
In addition to Greene County, District 62 consists of the counties of Culpeper, Madison, and Orange. Hamilton carried all but Madison. Jackson is the chair of the Madison Board of Supervisors.
Hamilton is a small business owner in Orange. She will face Democrat Sara Ratcliffe who Freitas defeated in 2023 with 61.65 percent of the vote according to the Virginia Public Access project.
Ratcliffe also ran in 2021 in the former House District 58 seat that was held for many years by Republican Rob Bell. New boundaries went into effect for the 2023 election.
Second-shout out: Cville Village?
Can you drive a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment? Change an overhead lightbulb, plant a flower, walk a dog for someone who is sick, visit someone who is lonely? If so, Cville Village needs you!
Cville Village is a local 501c3 nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with a national network of Villages whose goals are to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Volunteers do small chores for, and have gatherings of, professors and schoolteachers, nurses and lawyers, aides and housekeepers. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. They assist folks continue living at home, with a little help from their friends.
Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills.
Volunteering for Cville Village can expand your circle of friends and shower you with thanks.
To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call them at (434) 218-3727.
City Council gets briefing on Human Rights work in Charlottesville
The budget for Charlottesville’s Human Rights Commission has increased from an actual amount of $197,436 in FY2022 to $559,185 in the fiscal year that begins on July 1. That’s over 20 percent of the amount budget for the current fiscal year.
The director of the Office of Human Rights gave a briefing to City Council on June 16 about what he and his three fellow full-time employees do to implement the direction of the Human Rights Commission.
“It is a nine member body that's appointed by Council to address systemic issues, conduct community outreach and ultimately advise Council on issues related to human and civil rights,” said Todd Neimeier.
Neimeier said City Code lays out six tasks for the Human Rights Commission and his office, including assisting individuals with complaints of discrimination. In 2024, the Office served 288 individuals and opened 13 complaints. He said the workload is growing.
“The work in terms of jurisdictional complaints nearly doubled, which means more investigative work, also more alternative dispute resolution work,” Neimeier said. “What I'm examining now with that is how do we structure our office going forward in the anticipation of increased workloads and personnel requirements?”
Neimeier said some of the calls they get are from Albemarle County residents, which he said means need to talk to that local government to see what support they might lend.
Many of the work has to do with housing complaints. In recent years, the office has been working to become compliant with rules of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that would allow the city to do investigations on behalf of the federal government.
Charlottesville authorizes enhanced role of Office of Human Rights in housing investigations, August 8, 2024
Council waives rules to expedite vote on Human Rights Ordinance, January 24, 2025
Then the administration changed and no contract has been signed.
“I'll also say that I have not heard much in response to that in the last few months,” Neimeier said. “And I know that there's been a lot of changes at the federal level in terms of how they're enforcing civil and human rights.”
Neiemeier said the Human Rights Commission will complete their legislative recommendations to City Council by the end of August.
According to the minutes of the May meeting of the Human Rights Commission, topics of concern included:
How Parks and Recreation decides who gets to use what play surfaces
The pause of a newsletter created by the Office of Human Rights
59 inquiries had been received through mid-May in 2025
Delegate Katrina Callsen and Creigh Deeds appeared to answer questions
The next Human Rights Committee meeting is on July 17.
Reading material for #882
New historic sites designated in Charlottesville, Louisa and Nelson counties, CBS19 News, June 17, 2025
Charlottesville council approves jail renovation plans, Gabby Womack, WVIR 29News, June 17, 2025
Albemarle hopes to become Virginia’s ‘next innovation economy’, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, June 18, 2025
The end of #882 and the future beckons
Another set of election results seven months after the last ones. In four and a half months, we’ll know who won across Virginia. In this community, we already have a good sense of what will happen as a fresh face will take a slot on Charlottesville City Council.
What else will happen between now and then? How will you know if it does? Will there be enough articles to inform you?
Will I continue to be enthusiastic about reporting or do I begin to tack along another pathway? I don’t know. I don’t really have free will anymore. Two years of construction next door six days a week has me shredded.
This August marks 23 years I will have been in this community, years that have gone by in a blur. The last 59 months sure have as I’ve worked to build up whatever this is. Will I still be doing this in 59 months?
If I close my eyes for a moment, will it suddenly be 2030? What will have happened between now and then? Will I have written the stories? Will anyone? Will anyone a hundred years from now even know what happened?
I don’t have any answers. Tomorrow I’ll be ready to ask questions again.
Thank you Sean Tubbs! Since the DP descended into irrelevancy, your picking up the slack has been a great service to Charlottesville. I hope you can keep it up for decades!