COMMENTARY: Spotsylvania Stares into Abyss, Says 'No'

by Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

At the end of the day, voters favored people over policies in Spotsylvania County, sometimes by significant margins. This election brought Spotsylvania back from the edge of becoming a county fueled by hard-right, exclusionary politics, and brought it back into the orbit of civilized political debate.

The big news of the evening was the School Board race.

For two years, four Tea Party board members (whether aligned with the Tea Party or consistently supporting Tea Party policies) have wreaked havoc on Spotsylvania County Schools.

Meetings were chaotic, and mocked nationally. Nicole Cole, Lorita Daniels, and Dawn Shelley were effectively excluded from engaging in Board discussions. Consequently, their constituents lost their voices as Kirk Twigg, Rabih Abuismail, April Gillespie, and Lisa Phelps denied these three pro-public-school members the ability to place items on the School Board agenda, speak freely during meetings, or even enter the School Board facilities without escort.

The citizens of Spotsylvania made clear that they were done with the chaos. Carol Medawar defeated anti-public-school soon-to-be-former Board of Supervisor David Ross; Lorita Daniels stopped Chris Harris in Salem; Belen Rodan beat Tea Party favorite Jordan Lynch in the Courtland District; and Megan Jackson delivered a stunning, lopsided win over Kirk Twigg.

The news was no better for Tea Party candidates in other races. Nick Ignacio, the provocateur best known for pushing misleading sample ballots at the polls all the way up to Election Day, was defeated in his race for Clerk of Court by incumbent Christalyn Jett, who garnered 78% of the vote.

Roy Searles, best known for his outbursts at School Board meetings, was handily defeated by Deborah Frazier in the race for Board of Supervisors, Salem District.

And longtime Sheriff Roger Harris defeated Tea Party favorite Steve Maxwell by a more-than 2-1 margin.

What happened tonight in Spotsylvania will be analyzed for some time by those who follow local politics. In the immediate aftermath of the election, however, with deadline looming, here are some immediate take-aways.

We are not divided left and right

Since Donald Trump became a national political figure in 2015, people across the nation have spent countless hours and barrels of ink bemoaning our “divided nation.”

Tuesday’s election should dispel that idea in our small corner of Virginia.

The political debates between Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives, as well as left and right are not what divide us. These discussions, properly carried out, lay the groundwork for compromise. And compromise is at the core of our political system.

Left and right fueled the debates in Stafford and Fredericksburg. In Spotsylvania County, democracy and authoritarianism drove the election.

Susan Randall and Elizabeth Warner, both Republicans, won their races for Stafford School Board. They ran on platforms heavily focused on retaining and paying teachers, addressing Stafford’s growing need for improvements to its schools’ infrastructure, and increasing per-pupil spending.

Deuntay Diggs, a political novice and conservative-leaning sheriff’s deputy unseated moderately left-leaning Tom Coen in the race for Board of Supervisors in the George Washington District. The two appeared with Shaun Kenney and I on the New Dominion Podcast, and engaged in a lively political debate that was both respectful and hard-hitting.

Tinesha Allen, a solid progressive, held on to her Board of Supervisor’s seat in Griffis-Widewater. Though a solid Democrat, Allen has a well-earned reputation for working with all members of the board, and being a forceful advocate for her policies and constituents.

Crystal Vanuch, a red-meat conservative who has faced controversy on a number of fronts, held on to her seat against political novice Howard Rudat, who outraised her, but couldn’t out-distance her in vote tallies in the deep red Rock Hill District.

In Fredericksburg, a decidedly progressive-leaning city, center-right candidate Matt Kelly lost his council seat to Will Mackintosh and Jannan Holmes, both new to City Council. Kelly, however, lost just barely. The politics of Kelly are in no way related to the ideologies favored by the far-right in Spotsylvania.

Kelly has served his city well and with honor. And, we suspect, his service to the city isn’t going to end. He’s just going to do it from the private sector now. He’ll remain a constructive voice for preservation and strategic regional growth.

Debate is still valued

Citizens may disagree on what constitutes an acceptable tax rate, what should be deemed “critical services” when money gets tight, how to approach affordable housing, and a hundred other issues, but what they continue to agree on is the importance of respectful debate.

Though Jackson’s overwhelming victory over Kirk Twigg surprised some, it shouldn’t have. Jackson refused to play partisan politics, fiercely protected her independent label, and was measured in how she talked about Twigg. Mostly she campaigned on her vision for making things better.

Twigg’s erratic behavior on the School Board, his hiring a close friend and giving him a sweetheart deal to be superintendent – a position Mark Taylor was profoundly unqualified for – upset Republicans and Democrats alike.

Citizens – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents – value honest debate.

Too many people feel unheard

As difficult as the past two years have been for those who have had to deal with the Spotsylvania School Board, celebrate tonight and savor this hard-won victory, but don’t misunderstand the voters’ message.

There are many parents in the county with legitimate concerns about the content of books and what is taught in the classroom.

The new leaders in Spotsylvania should not forget this. Parents’ and students’ concerns – whether you concur with them or not – deserve to be heard and taken seriously.

Solutions based in compromise may not ultimately please everyone, but they often prevent a vocal minority from developing the sense of alienation that drove those who put Phelps, Twigg, Gillespie, and Abuismail in power two years ago.

To not learn this lesson could well lead to another board flip in two years.

To the new majority Board – Do better, and keep people above politics with every vote you take.

Make smart changes

That changes are coming to Spotsylvania Schools seems certain. But to the incoming members, know that there are right and wrong ways to affect change.

Build consensus, be transparent, and be kind. Give those who supported the people you just put out of office at seat at the table, and hear them.

Take your time making changes. The county has suffered a substantial loss of talent and institutional memory. Finding the right people to right the ship will not be quick, or easy.

‘I did it for Spotsy’

The change that took place Tuesday night came because of a great deal of work that numerous individuals undertook without pay, and without acknowledgment.

One of those people was Nicole Cole. As she was leaving Medawar’s and Michael Bush’s Watch Party, I asked if she had a quote for me to use in my column.

With tears in eyes welling up from a combination of joy and exhaustion she said simply, “I did it for Spotsy.”

People over policies. It’s still a winning hand. Even in our so-called divided nation.

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-Martin Davis, Editor