Over the past few months, the Fredericksburg City Council candidacies of Susanna Finn and Kenneth Gantt were cast into doubt due to a recent, if controversial, legal interpretation of a 1930s-era federal law.
Now, the pair who are vying to represent Wards 3 and 1, respectively, have hatched a plan to stay in November’s race — and keep their government jobs in the process.
Finn and Gantt issued a joint statement Tuesday evening, in which the pair stated they submitted an official request to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for Fredericksburg City to be recognized as a “designated locality.”
That designation would remove any doubt that Finn and Gantt could participate in “nominally partisan elections” as defined by the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from participating in certain political activities. At issue in the city were endorsements from local political parties: the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee endorsed a slate of candidates in July, and the local Republican Committee followed suit last month.
Several other Virginia localities, including Spotsylvania, Stafford and King George counties, have received said designation.
“As federal employees, we honor our oath to serve — and for our Fredericksburg neighbors, that service is simply closer to home,” Gantt said in the release.
Added Finn: “Through partnership, we are advancing Designated Locality status as a team, the same kind of teamwork our community should expect from anyone seeking to represent and serve it.
“Good leadership means tackling real problems head-on, collaboratively, for the betterment of the community. By adding Fredericksburg as a designated locality, we’re giving federal employees the ability to keep serving the public with confidence.”
While the release noted that the request remains under review, the Office of Special Counsel has paused its investigation, and Finn and Gantt both plan to remain in November’s election.
