York’s Curveball Shakes Up Race for Chairman

It wasn’t the first pitch of the election season, but Scott York definitely threw the first curveball when he announced that he would be running as a Republican for the chairmanship of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, rather than as an Independent.

The race for seats on the Board of Supervisors representing the Leesburg area – for the newly redrawn Leesburg and Catoctin Districts as well as the at-large chairmanship – had seemingly been taking shape.

The Leesburg District, which includes most residents living inside the town limits, has incumbent Democrat Kelly Burk potentially being challenged by Leesburg Town Council member Ken Reid, who is running as a Republican.  Burk is also a former member of the town council.  Both Burk and Reid have long been involved in local politics, and their governing philosophies are well-documented.

In the Catoctin District, which includes the outskirts of Leesburg as well as much of the unincorporated area in the Leesburg vicinity, Republican Geary Higgins and Democrat Malcolm Baldwin have both filed as candidates.  Higgins is a former School Board member, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Board of Supervisors in the past two elections, when he was defeated by current Catoctin District representative Sally Kurtz.

Baldwin, running with Kurtz’s endorsement, has also long been in the public eye, and has been a frequent speaker at Board of Supervisors meetings.  By Election Day, both Higgins and Baldwin should be known quantities to Catoctin District voters, if they are not already.

The race for chairman had been shaping up as a three-way race between York, the incumbent who is seeking has fourth term as chairman, Republican Steve Stockman, and Democrat Tom Bellanca.

York was first elected to the Board in 1995 as a Republican representing the Sterling District.  He was elected Chairman as a Republican in 1999, and was then re-elected twice more after leaving the local party and running as an Independent.  Stockman served two terms on the Board of Supervisors, from 1984 through 1991.  Compared to Stockman and York, Bellanca is a relative newcomer to the scene.

It is evident that York was less concerned about the risk of squaring off against the likes of Stockman for the Republican nomination, than the prospect of running as an Independent in a three-way race.  With two Republicans in the field, in essence, it seemed possible that they might split the Republican vote and hand the election to their Democrat opponent.  York had won a similar three-way race in 2003 by a very narrow margin.

Stockman fashioned a solidly conservative voting record during his previous tenure on the Board.  York is also a conservative, but has voted for increases in the tax rate and has supported controls on growth that were opposed by the party’s more conservative, pro-development wing.

Although we can expect that Stockman will hit York hard from the right, York has apparently made the calculation that he would rather take on this challenge within the party, rather than as an Independent in a three-way race.  The surprising embrace of York by conservative Sterling District Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, with whom he has had several heated exchanges over the years, may help inoculate York from an attack from the right.

There’s still plenty of time for candidates to file, and the playing field will no doubt change some more.  But it will be interesting to find out whether any of the candidates challenging Scott York for chairman will be able to hit a curve.