The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors election turned out to be a referendum on the data center industry.
Two of the industry’s staunchest critics — current Lee Hill District Supervisor Lori Hayes and Berkeley District challenger David Goosman — handedly defeated challenger Marcus Garcia and incumbent Kevin Marshall, respectively.
Garcia and Marshall oppose implementing a special use permit (SUP) for data centers in areas zoned Industrial. Hayes and Goosman are in favor of an SUP.
“I hate to use the word ‘referendum,’” Goosman said. “That’s pretty strong, but I will say that everyone I talked to was upset about data centers, and they all thought an SUP was the way to go, and the board would never do that. I think we will see an SUP for Spotsylvania in the future. It’s really just putting safeguards in place, so citizens have a voice.”
Goosman picked up 4,130 votes compared to Marshall’s 2,420. Nilofer Garza placed third with 2,072 votes. Goosman said Tuesday night that he’s “very tired” after a long campaign.
“I’m still in awe,” Goosman said. “I’m kind of shocked. I know I put in a lot of work, but at the end of the day the voters came out and I was humbled by the fact they elected me. It’s kind of surreal.”
Hayes racked up 4,306 votes to Garcia’s 2,972. Garcia regularly spoke out at board of supervisors’ meetings in support of data centers being constructed by-right, and Hayes has polar opposite views.
“Lori was the spearhead of standing up for our citizens against data centers, and the way they wanted to roll over our county,” Battlefield District Supervisor Chris Yakabouski said. “People saw that and rewarded her with another term. I’ve known David for a long time, and he just worked hard. If anything proves hard work pays off, it’s his election.”
The Battlefield District supervisors’ race is too close to call with Yakabouski leading Baron Braswell by just 24 votes (3,856-3,832). Yakabouski and Braswell each said they support SUPs for data centers.
Any ballots postmarked by Tuesday can be processed through Friday. Either way, Braswell said to expect a recount. He received conflicting information and at one point, took congratulatory calls, informing him that he had won by 138 votes.
“That’s really close,” Braswell said of the current margin. “That’s less than a half a percent.”
On the school board side, Rich Lieberman won the Lee Hill District seat over Gabby Pickover and Todd Rump.
Lieberman has 3,948 votes to Pickover’s 2,097. Rump placed third with 1,223 votes. Lieberman said he’s exhausted after campaigning at the early voting site for 45 days and waking up at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday for the final day of voting. Lieberman fell short in the 2021 election to incumbent Lisa Phelps.
“A lot of voters made it very clear to me during both early voting and [Election Day] that they were voting for me, but they have high expectations for me,” Lieberman said. “So, to me, this win is something I have to live up to. I have to earn the trust voters put into me because they want a functional school board.”
In the Battlefield District, Jennifer Morgan Craig-Ford won a close contest against James King and Nick Ignacio. Craig Ford finished with 2,804 votes compared to 2,414 for King and 2,285 for Ignacio.
“I’m very excited,” Craig-Ford said. “It’s my first time running. I’m amazed that the voters of Spotsylvania appreciated the message that I was giving and I’m excited to move forward in January to get some real change in the schools, so that we’re back to a functioning school system.”
Larry DiBella, a first sergeant with the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office and former long-time school resource officer, won the Berkeley District School Board race with 4,846 votes. Amanda Monroe finished with 3,304 votes.
In King George County, Bryan Metts defeated Shawn Palivoda 1,596-1327 in the race for the James Monroe District seat on the board of supervisors. Metts will replace T.C. Collins, who did not seek another term.
Cathy Binder will continue representing the Shiloh District after she ran uncontested. Carrie Cleveland and Rachel Scott will represent the James Monroe and Shiloh Districts on the school board, respectively, after running uncontested races.
