by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
URBANNA —
First, a big thank you to all local candidates who ran for office in the elections last week. Good job! You make Middlesex proud. You gave us a choice for most offices.
I’m especially pleased with Katie Carnes who ran for a seat on the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors as a write-in candidate. She believed the people in her district deserved a choice on Election Day and became a last minute candidate. Good for her!
That’s what the public wants and needs — choice, debate of issues and reflection on where our county has come from and where we need to go in the future.
Many may not realize it but it’s tough work to offer yourself as a candidate for public office. It’s quite a sacrifice. Running for office is not only physically exhaustive but also stressful.
In some cases it’s also expensive. I know because I ran for office for a seat on town council in Urbanna many years ago in order to experience what it was like to be a candidate. The French have a word for it: Horreurs!
However, opinion writers need to experience as much of life as possible so they understand how others live. Running for office was terrible! I hated it! But I’m glad I did it because it taught me great respect, understanding and appreciation for those who offer themselves for service to government.
Government at all levels depends on a few good people to give of themselves to better our nation, state and community. Government is only as good as the people who agree to run for office and we elect and, as most of us realize from the last presidential election, (if we didn’t realize it before,) if we don’t have good choices, we will all suffer the result.
I think our local supervisors do a good job. We are also blessed with other dedicated and competent public servants in Middlesex County.
The statewide election was interesting to watch as Democrats have occupied the top three major offices in the commonwealth for some time now and even managed to win the majority in the state assembly. But this year the voters changed course and now Republicans will take over.
I think it was a combination of several factors that brought the shift in power. First, Terry McAuliffe had previously served as governor and I think the public no longer wants to see a “retread” of either party return to office. The voters perhaps hope for new faces because along with new faces comes, rightly or wrongly, renewed hope for better government.
I was personally thrilled to see the first Black woman voted in as lt. governor in Virginia! Hurrah for her! Sears appears to be a spunky gal that is extremely patriotic about America after coming from Jamaica and serving a stint in the U.S. Marines. I wish her well and hope she will prove to do so well that she can run for governor one day.
Glenn Youngkin was amazing. An unknown, it was almost laughable when we first heard the name of the candidate running against McAuliffe. He became the modern day David against Goliath. It was fun to watch the definite underdog emerge as the winner if only by a small margin. He appears to be a very personable man.
McAuliffe probably lost the election merely on two statements he made at the end of the campaign. He stated educators, not parents, should be in charge of what their children are taught and he thought there were too many white teachers in our public schools. Neither statement was wise. It insulted concerned parents about their children’s education and both white and Black teachers that sensed being hired was not going to be according to ability but according to race. People are tired of this demeaning mentality.
Thus, parties come into power and lose power like the tides of the sea. I always appreciate a change of command. It’s good to clean house especially when either party gets too much power or becomes arrogant.
One more comment: 75 percent of Middlesex voters cast their vote against removing the Confederate War memorial dedicated to our dead soldiers from the grounds of the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse in Saluda. I hope the supervisors will rethink their previous vote on removing the monument. With that many people feeling such strong sentiment for this county’s history, the supervisors should respect their feelings. This is a case where the people’s views should have precedence over the personal opinion of any supervisor.
Rather, instead of removing historical monuments to the dead, expand on our county’s rich history. I would like to see some way to mention Yankee soldiers who died here fighting in the war to save the Union and certainly, it’s long past time to honor all our ancestors who were slaves and who helped build this county to what it is today. Amen!
Compromise is a beautiful word!
© 2021.
