Slow-Growth Board Candidates Win
Concerns Help Shape Race for Supervisors

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 7, 2007; B01

Eight candidates sharply critical of Loudoun County's record-setting growth won seats yesterday on the nine-member Board of Supervisors, in the first election since Loudoun became the nation's fastest-growing county.

Four Democratic challengers defeated pro-growth Republican incumbents. In addition, slow-growth incumbents won their races, including Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large), Sarah R. "Sally" Kurtz (D-Catoctin), Jim G. Burton (I-Blue Ridge) and Lori L. Waters (R-Broad Run).

Democrats celebrated at a boisterous, smoke-filled party at an Irish pub in Sterling, where they watched returns trickle in to the sounds of a country music band. In a bitterly fought campaign, they had said unrestrained growth contributed to road congestion, school crowding and high taxes.

"What voters wanted was to get the focus back on existing communities, not on new communities," said Andrea McGimsey (D), who defeated incumbent Bruce E. Tulloch (R) in the Potomac District.

Pro-growth incumbent Steve J. Snow (R) lost to Stevens R. Miller (D) in the Dulles District.

In the Sugarland Run District, Susan Klimek Buckley (D) defeated incumbent D.M. "Mick" Staton Jr. (R). And C. Kelly Burk bested Republican incumbent Jim E. Clem in the Leesburg District.

"If the results are what they're turning out to be, it will be a resounding victory for smart growth in Loudoun County and a reflection of citizen anger over the way growth has been handled in the county," said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the anti-sprawl Coalition for Smarter Growth.

One successful pro-growth candidate was Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who received 53 percent of the vote. Delgaudio, an anti-gay activist who made headlines this summer by pushing for local enforcement of federal immigration laws, won a third term.

In an unusually tight and lively sheriff's race, three-term incumbent Steve O. Simpson (I) defeated former Fairfax County detective Michael E. George (D) and former Loudoun deputy Greg J. Ahlemann (R).

"I think it's over," said Simpson, surrounded by supporters at the county administration building shortly after midnight. "There are still some precincts that have not reported -- this has been very slow -- but I think I have won."

The victory provided a measure of vindication for Simpson, who ran as an independent after losing the Republican nomination to Ahlemann. With Ahlemann in third place, many voters appeared to reject his contention that Simpson was an ineffective leader who was soft on illegal immigration.

In a statement, Paul Protic, chairman of the Loudoun Republican Party, said he thought local candidates faced an anti-GOP mood that was prevalent across the state.

"Clearly, Loudoun Republicans are disappointed with our performance in this year's election, which appears in many ways to be an extension of challenges our party is facing on the regional, state and even national levels," he said. "We continue to believe that Loudoun County is GOP territory and that our base is strong and resilient."

In 2003, a slate of pro-growth Republicans wrested control of the Board of Supervisors. The previous board, elected in 1999, had angered property rights advocates by trying to institute one of the country's strictest growth-control policies.

This year, Democratic candidates and the board's two independent incumbents hammered the Republicans, saying they had taken their pro-growth policies too far. They accused the Republicans of being cozy with developers and approving too many homes without adequate infrastructure. The result, they said, was traffic-clogged roads, crowded schools and ballooning tax bills.

Growth, and how the board has managed it, figured into the decisions of many voters yesterday at Ashburn Elementary School.

"I think that too much development isn't good for traffic and schools," said Cynthia Croissant, 35, a stay-at-home mother from Ashburn who voted for two slow-growth candidates.

The Republicans tried to fend off criticism about growth, saying the majority of homes built over the past four years had been approved by previous boards. They also said they had voted to restrict building somewhat in the county's rural outer reaches and had voted against a plan to allow as many as 33,800 homes south of Dulles International Airport.

To appeal to an electorate that they said has remained mostly conservative, the Republicans underscored their efforts to keep taxes low and to work with developers to bring millions of dollars' worth of road improvements and amenities without spending any tax money.

They also promoted their recent efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. This summer, the board's Republicans followed Prince William County's lead and passed a resolution aimed at driving out illegal immigrants, who they said were committing crimes and bringing blight to neighborhoods.

In the Loudoun School Board races, incumbent Thomas E. Reed defeated challenger Herbert L. Bryan for the at-large seat. Other incumbents who won contested races were Robert F. DuPree Jr. (Dulles), Priscilla B. Godfrey (Blue Ridge) and Joseph M. Guzman (Sugarland Run). In the Catoctin District, however, challenger Jennifer Keller Bergel defeated incumbent Mark J. Nuzzaco.

Write-in candidate Thomas A. "Tag" Greason lost in his challenge of incumbent Robert J. Ohneiser in the Broad Run District. Despite being disqualified from the ballot for improperly filing paperwork, Greason won endorsements from the Loudoun Republican party and the county's teachers association.

With a majority of precincts reporting, voters also appeared to favor seven of eight bond measures that would provide almost $100 million for fire stations, community centers, sheriff substations and a library, and to buy land for schools.

Staff writers Arianne Aryanpur, Bill Brubaker, Michael Chandler and Jonathan Mummolo contributed to this report.