Kenbridge mayor re-elected

Published 4:42 pm Thursday, May 5, 2016

Tuesday’s election brought new faces to the Kenbridge and Victoria town councils.

A familiar face returning to office will be Kenbridge Mayor Emory Hodges, who defeated challenger Anthony A. “Tony” Sandy handily. Hodges received 162 votes, or 72 percent, to Sandy’s 64 votes, or 28 percent, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections website.

The election also saw Kenbridge incumbent council members D.K. “Ken” Blackburn, C.A. “Cathy” Gilley, Raymond E. Hite Jr., D.G. “Danny” Thompson and Michael Bender all re-elected. Bender joined the council in late February when he was appointed to finish the term of Sallie B. Glenn, who stepped down.

Challenger R. Michael McGrath was among the top vote-getters and will take the spot of Thomas Palmore, who was the only one of the board’s six other members who chose not to seek re-election.

Hite led the council voting with 187 votes, followed by Thompson with 170 votes, Gilley with 160, McGrath with 159, Blackburn with 158 and Bender with 149.

Hafiz M. Ibrahim was the only other challenger to run. He received 73 votes.

In Victoria, incumbents Sandra V. Jones and Ronald E. Mattox were re-elected and will be joined on the council by newcomer C.H. “Chris” Gill.

Gill received 148 votes, Mattox 131, and Jones 119.

Besides Gill, there were two other challengers hoping to be elected: Robert L. Kassel, who received 37 votes, and Daniel W. Medlin, who received 52.

The council had three seats open and was assured to have at least one new face as Lee Scott chose not to seek re-election.

Mayor Carol R. Watson ran unopposed and received 154 votes, according to the Department of Elections website.

The town has staggered terms and its other board members — Johnnie Brame, Greg Elam and Kenneth Boyd — were not on the ballot this year.

All of the candidates in the Victoria and Kenbridge elections ran as independents.