Umstattd, Hammler, Butler and Dunn Win Seats in Leesburg

The unofficial results are in for the Leesburg Town Council, showing Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd will serve another term as mayor alongside re-elected council members Katie Hammler, Tom Dunn and David Butler. They will officially begin their new terms January 1.

“You’re always a little nervous. You don’t know whether the voters approve of what you’ve done or tried to do or not,” Umstattd said, prior to the results. She joined council candidates Butler, Jim Sisley and Joseph Mydlinski during an election party at Palio Ristorante Italiano.

“You wait until they’ve made their decision,” Umstattd added. “Even if you hear good news, until all the votes are in you can’t really relax.”

As numbers rolled in, Umstattd continued to hold the lead. As of 12:15 a.m. she had 12,017 (65.62 percent) votes compared to her opponent, Linda Shotton, who had 6,189 (33.79 percent), according to Virginia's State Board of Elections.

“I am deeply thankful to the voters for having that kind of confidence in me. I’m very shaken that they would deem me worthy of re-election,” Umstattd said. “I love this job. I enjoyed [today’s election] tremendously. People were just so nice and friendly and that’s what I’ve found throughout Leesburg. This really is the best job you can have.”

Butler, who had 8,538 votes (19.82 percent), said though a campaign is long and hard, it is a sense of relief knowing the results.

“I would just like to say thank you for your support and I will continue to do what you ask me to do,” Butler said. “I hope that the town continues to do as well as it has been and I’m confident it will.”

Hammler, who was watching the numbers from her home, had 6,327 votes (14.69 percent) and said she is grateful for all of the support she received.

“I’m very, very proud of the campaign I ran,” she said, adding the November ballot has set the standards for future elections. 

“Despite the fact that I was the two term incumbent it was really kind of David versus Goliath with big political parties,” Hammler said. “I am so honored that I am back on council to work with a wonderful team and a tremendous staff and I’m looking forward to the next four years.“

Dunn, who came in with 6,601 (15.33 percent) votes, was unavailable to comment prior to Leesburg Patch’s deadline. He will join Butler and Hammler for another term.

Candidate Jim Sisley was the next candidate in line. Results showed he had 5,153 (11.96 percent) by the end of the night, but it wasn’t enough to win.

“I’d love to be on council but, obviously, it’s the people’s vote,” he said. “It’s not my wish alone.”

Sisley said he feels better knowing that he took the time to run. He thanked everyone who contributed to his campaign and those who took the time to vote.

“We have a lot of people in town, we have a lot of people who are registered voters. We had an extraordinarily high turnout,” Sisley said. “This was an unprecedented year so to have met as many people that I did during the race and talk to as many people as I did with this first time race what a phenomenal thing.

“We’ll have to wait for two years and see what happens next.”