Election 2019: In fast-growing Va. suburb, state and national issues echo in local election
Democrat Phyllis J. Randall’s surprise victory four years ago — in an unusual three-way race — made her the first African American to chair Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors.
Now, Randall is working to build on that success and turn the country’s wealthiest county into a more active voice on issues such as gun violence, climate change and women’s rights, drawing on Loudoun’s growing diversity, frustration over recent racist incidents in schools and opposition to President Trump.
Randall, 54, faces a tough reelection battle against Republican John C. Whitbeck. As the two major-party candidates in an election contest that also includes independent Robert Ohneiser, they have opposing views on the role the county of 413,000 residents should play in increasingly blue Northern Virginia.
“This election is about putting people in office who are communicating with people who share their values and who want to move both Loudoun and the entire area forward,” said Randall, who has linked her campaign — and her effort to erase the GOP’s 6-to-3 majority on the board — to a giant push by Democrats to win control of the General Assembly in Richmond.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/in-fast-growing-va-suburb-state-and-national-issues-echo-in-local-election/2019/10/11/54b6f3e0-e9d2-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html
