Wrapping up Election Day
By MIKE WILLIAMS
Patriot Publishing
Fifty-two percent of registered voters in Pulaski County cast their ballots Tuesday and during early voting in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
And when the dust settled voters in the Town of Pulaski rejected casino gaming, and voters county-wide said “no” to a local 1 percent sales tax for school improvements.
In Pulaski the gaming question was defeated on a 1,463 to 1,128 margin. The question was also defeated in Amherst, 7,057 to 6,874.
County voters rejected the 1 percent sales tax locally by a big 7,906 to 4,940 margin.
Across the Commonwealth, the sales tax question was defeated in 32 counties and cities. It passed in just 15.
In this area only Radford passed the tax proposal, while Wythe, Smyth, Giles and Floyd all joined Pulaski County to reject it.
“While the election results were not what we had hoped for, we fully respect the decision of our community’s voters,” School Superintendent Rob Graham said.
“Our primary focus remains unchanged: providing the highest quality education and safest learning environment possible for the students of Pulaski County. We will continue to evaluate our facility needs, review our long-term budget strategy, and explore all available avenues to support our schools, teachers, and school community,” he added.
“The Virginia General Assembly provided all localities in Virginia the opportunity to offer a referendum to the voters in order to fund capital improvements for school communities. We will continue to work with the Pulaski County School Board to find solutions to update existing facilities to continue to provide quality education for all Pulaski County students,” said Pulaski County Board of Supervisors Chair Laura Walters.
In the race for the Ninth District House of Representatives seat, Republican incumbent Morgan Griffith easily won another two-year term defeating his Democratic challenger Joy Powers.
Locally, Griffith carried Pulaski County by an 8,590 to 4,262 margin. Across the district, Griffith collected 193,790 votes to Powers’ 99,441.
And while U.S. Senator Mark Warner won a fourth term with 61 percent of the statewide vote, the Democrat lost in Pulaski County to Republican Bert Mizusawa, 8,098 votes to 4,751.
On the statewide Constitutional Amendment questions, voters in Pulaski County defeated all three by wide margins, while the three questions all passed at the statewide level.
Town council races in Pulaski and Dublin were quiet this year, with three candidates seeking three seats in both towns.
Elected in Pulaski were Brooks Dawson, Jeremy Clark and Michael Williams. In Dublin, Debbie Hager, Jared Smith and Doug Poe all were elected.
Pulaski County entered the election with 24,804 people registered to vote with 12,954 ballots being cast for a 52 percent turnout.