By Carol Vaughn
Onley’s new mayor will be Henry E. “Ned” Finney, according to unofficial election results.
By late Tuesday, all votes except for provisional votes were counted, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Finney defeated Deborah K. Bliss, with 115 votes for Finney and 72 votes for Bliss cast. There also were 28 write-in votes.
Wachapreague also will have a new mayor, according to unofficial results.
Challenger Charles A. Elliott defeated incumbent Fred Janci to win the mayoral race, receiving 99 votes to Janci’s 52, with four write-in votes.
In Saxis, incumbent mayor Denise Drewer won easily over challenger Bill Sprowl Jr., receiving 79 votes to Sprowl’s 19 votes.
Tangier incumbent James W. “Ooker” Eskridge also will remain mayor, having received 118 votes to challenger Norwood C. Evans’ 80 votes.
In Onancock, incumbent Fletcher Fosque ran a write-in campaign for mayor, with 283 write-in votes cast. It was not yet known at press time whether all the votes were for Fosque.
In Parksley, voters ousted incumbent council member Dan Matthews, giving the three seats to Mark Layne, Brad York, and incumbent Henry Nicholson Jr.
Matthews and his wife, Carol Matthews, who was not up for re-election, filed lawsuits against Parksley’s mayor, several council members, and the town itself in Accomack County General District Court in September, alleging they misused closed meeting laws to illegally hide town business and “silence open discussion.”
Town residents in Accomack County Tuesday elected town council members and, in most towns, mayor. In numerous cases, results will be determined by write-in votes.
The official results were certified after press time.
The General Assembly in 2021 passed a law changing all Virginia town elections from May to November.
Thousands of Accomack residents cast their ballots before Election Day, under new, less restrictive early voting laws.
At the end of early voting — the period ended Saturday — 4,482 people in Accomack had voted, with the vast majority voting in person at the Voter Registration Office and others voting by mail.
The total is more than three times the number of early voters in the 2018 midterm election, when 1,226 voted early.
Accomack County’s early voting rate per 1,000 registered voters, 179, surpassed the statewide rate, 156.4.
TOWN ELECTION RESULTS
Accomac
Mayor — Patricia T. Smith
Town Council — Christopher W. Newman, Thomas E. Hines, Joyce Metcalf Lewis, Charles M. “Chip” Lewis, Robert T. Godwin; sixth member to be determined by results of 54 write-in votes
Belle Haven
Mayor George H. Ludlow Jr.
Town Council — O. Zach Pase, Troy A. Brown, Edwin R. Long, Douglas R. Wehner, Larry S. Baxter
Recorder — H. Allen Floyd III
Bloxom
Mayor — Christopher F. Kreisl
Town Council — On the ballot, Samuel H. Bloxom Jr., 55 votes; Thomas W. Beasley, 70 votes; and Louella H. Fox, 69 votes; three or possibly more members to be determined by results of 110 write-in votes
Chincoteague
Town Council — K. Jay Savage, Ellen W. Richardson, Christopher Duer Bott
Hallwood
Mayor — J. W. “Jackie” Poulson Jr.
Town Council — On the ballot, Pamela G. Riffey, 27 votes; Karen Wessells Herring, 21 votes; John W. Smith Jr., 20 votes; three or more members to be determined by results of 23 write-in votes
Keller
Mayor — S. Beth Hart
Town Council — Rose Anna Moore, Claire T. Nutter, Carole A. Elliott, Teresa E. Guy, Linda A. Guy; sixth member to be determined by results of 12 write-in votes
Melfa
Mayor — Charles R. Wilbur
Town Council — Raymond W. Lewis Jr., Daniel F. Macca, Brian B. Langley, Gregory J. Spady, James Robert Wilson; sixth member to be determined by results of 20 write-in votes
Onancock
Mayor — To be determined by results of 283 write-in votes
Town Council —Sarah B. Nock, 294 votes; Joy S. Marino, 277 votes; Cynthia W. Holdren, 249 votes. The fourth candidate for the three seats, Brandon J. Bockmeier, received 235 votes. There were 24 write-in votes.
Onley
Mayor — Henry E. “Ned” Finney
Town Council — Likely: Rodney C. Lang, 127 votes; Woody W. Zember, 137 votes; Daniel Keith Bloxom Jr., 118 votes; William R. “Bill” Ferguson, 135 votes; with two or more members to be determined by results of 158 write-in votes
Painter
Mayor — Connie Widgeon Campbell
Town Council — F. C. Duer III, Josephine B. Hearne, James N. Sturgis, Eric T. Harris, Thomas L. Willett, sixth member to be determined by results of 23 write-in votes
Parksley
Town Council — Mark S. Layne, 156 votes; Henry T. Nicholson Jr., 185 votes, Brad D. Yorkm 155 votes. The fourth candidate on the ballot for three seats, Daniel R. Matthews, received 115 votes. There were 30 write-in votes.
Saxis
Mayor — Denise L. Drewer
Town Council— Denise E. Chance, Aubrey Lee Miles Jr., Wayne E. McCleary, Darrell D. Marshall, Bryan P. Shreaves Jr., sixth member to be determined — either Donna M. Croushore (on ballot), who received 49 votes, or a write-in candidate. There were 61 write-in votes. Jan Rae Foerster, who was on the ballot, received 30 votes.
Tangier
Mayor — James W. “Ooker” Eskridge
Town Council — On the ballot were Cameron C. Evans, 168 votes; Cynthia L. “Cindy” Wheatley,124 votes; Isaiah J. McCready, 135 votes; and Paul R. McCready, 156 votes. Two or more members to be determined by results of 261 write-in votes.
Wachapreague
Mayor — Charles A. Elliott
Town Council — On the ballot were Robert G. Williams, 83 votes; Robert F. Bilicki, 68 votes; Stephen B. Joseph, 82 votes; and Sandie M. Puchalski, 91 votes. Results of 127 write-in votes could determine two or more council members. Donald Motto, whose name was on the ballot but who withdrew before the election, received 18 votes.
.
