The Lynchburg City Council turned blue Tuesday night, like the U.S. House and Senate and multiple state legislative chambers and governor’s offices. The Democrats who won in the Hill City said the flip was more about a vision for the community than affiliation with a party.
“I don’t think that this is historic in terms of ‘Oh, it was Republican, and now it’s Democrat,’” Christina Delzingaro, one of the winners, said at a press conference Wednesday. “I think it’s historic in the swing from being negative, looking backward, to being positive and looking forward; being exclusive and divisive, to being inclusive and caring and kind.”
Each of the winners — Delzingaro, Dave Henderson and Nat Marshall — tallied more than 12,000 votes, according to unofficial results from the state Department of Elections. There is a more than 4,000-vote gap between the third- and fourth-place finishers. Provisional votes had not yet been counted, as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Democratic slate flipped the three at-large council seats formerly held by Republicans, Mayor Larry Taylor, Marty Misjuns and Stephanie Reed, who all ran for reelection. Tuesday’s vote ended what was a 6-1 Republican majority on council, which was often seen as divided by GOP infighting.
Delzingaro, Henderson and Marshall campaigned on bringing civility and collaboration back to city hall.
“I think that is the shift that was made: not between party, but between outlook of what we think this community can be, outlook about how we treat each other, and outlook as to where we can be in the future,” Delzingaro said.
The shift starts with making sure that all Lynchburg residents feel represented by the new at-large members, Henderson said at the press conference.
“To everyone who voted for someone else: I will work to earn your trust. I will listen to you, and I will remember every day that serving the city means serving you too,” he said.
Sterling Wilder, the sole current Democratic city council member, said at the press conference that he’s looking forward to working with the new members toward “putting the interest of the people first — not about politics or about agendas, but the people of Lynchburg need to be put first.”
The new city council members will join the dais in January. In the meantime, they said they plan to get caught up to speed on existing city plans and policies, build relationships with city leaders and sharpen their vision for the future. Central priorities include the city schools, affordable housing, public transportation and city employee morale and retention, the winners said at the press conference.
Nine candidates were on the ballot this year, including two rival slates of candidates seeking the Republican vote: Misjuns was joined by Veronica Bratton on one team, and Taylor and Reed were joined by Chris Boswell on the other. There were no official Republican candidates this year, in the aftermath of a nullified nomination process. Independent candidate Eli “Shawn Hunter” Rybinni also ran.
Taylor, Reed and Boswell issued a press release late Tuesday night to congratulate the Democratic winners and “thank them for running a professional and respectful campaign,” which “reflects the best of Lynchburg and serves as an example of how political opponents should conduct themselves.”
“While tonight’s results were not what we had hoped for, we are incredibly proud of the race we ran and the campaign we built together. Clearly, Republicans across the country did not have the night we were hoping for, but we remain grateful for the opportunity to stand firm for the people of Lynchburg and the principles we believe in,” the press release states.
Marshall said the Democratic slate went into Tuesday feeling “guardedly optimistic,” knowing that Republican voters’ ballots would be divided among five candidates. Even so, the Democratic candidates worked to ensure they were connecting with residents across the community, and not just “preaching to the choir.”
“I think it’s proven that we were preaching to the congregation,” he said, now seeing the vote gap between the Democratic finishers and others on the ballot.
Now that Democrats have a majority on the city council, Marshall said, one of them will likely be voted in as mayor. The members-elect said they have not yet decided who the mayor should be.
Henderson encouraged “everyone who found their voice in this campaign” to keep using it by attending city council meetings, helping their neighbors, being involved with the school system, and holding the new city council members accountable. Volunteers participated in election preparations through an organization called Lynchburg Better Together, a local initiative partnered with Rural GroundGame, an organization that supports Democratic campaigns, committees and community leaders.
“The energy that brought us here has a place in the work ahead,” he said.
Meet the new city council members
Delzingaro is a founder and the CEO of Community Access Network, which provides accessible primary care and wellness services for tens of thousands of Lynchburg residents each year. She oversees the organization’s $16 million budget and staff of 75.
Her experience with strategic planning, budget management, workforce leadership, and collaboration with local governments, healthcare providers, nonprofit partners and community stakeholders prepares her for service on the city council, according to her bio on Lynchburg Better Together’s website. She first got to know Lynchburg in 1980 as a student at what was then Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and moved back to the Hill City about a dozen years ago.
“It’s going to take making difficult decisions, supporting our city staff and holding them accountable, making sure that every public dollar is invested wisely and results in a real return on investment,” Delzingaro said of her new role as a city council member. “It’ll take not just hard work, but conversation and collaboration between city departments, our local nonprofits who are doing incredible things, and our local private businesses who have invested in this city. Most importantly, it will take a willingness for all of us to listen to each other and to respect each other, even when we disagree.”
Henderson is a Lynchburg native and local business owner. He opened the downtown restaurant The Water Dog in 2016 and since then has helped to grow multiple businesses that together employ more than 100 people and contribute to the downtown economy, according to Lynchburg Better Together.
He worked across the country in corporate finance before returning to the Hill City about a decade ago. He holds numerous community leadership positions with the Lynchburg Planning Commission, the Downtown Lynchburg Association’s board, Lynchburg Grows’ board and other organizations.
“We can disagree and still solve problems. We can ask hard questions and still treat people with respect. We can expect more from our government and from ourselves,” he said of his vision for how the new city council members will work together.
Marshall has called Central Virginia home his entire life and recently retired from a 40-year career at BWXT. His roles there involved strategic planning, human resource management and community partnerships, according to Lynchburg Better Together.
He has served on numerous local boards including those of Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way, the University of Lynchburg and Johnson Health Center. He’s extended his leadership commonwealth-wide in roles on the State Board for Community Colleges and workforce development boards. He also serves as treasurer, trustee, deacon and Sunday school teacher at his church.
“We worked hard those 10 months and talked to so many people — teachers and city workers and police officers and so many other folks — and really learned a lot about what’s going on in the community,” Marshall said of the campaign journey since January. “So I think that we are in the right place, in the right time, with the right folks to really make a difference.”
See more photos and video here.