Roanoke City Election Results

What a tight election that was. The votes were counted and recounted several times. John Garland and Trish White-Boyd were neck and neck. It turns out that REI of Virginia played a very important roll in this election.

This is a lesson to be remembered for all future candidates. You can not blow off the REI meeting if you are not the incumbent. We have 715 members in our organization. At least 1/3rd live within the city limits. It is a very bad idea to blow off the REI Small Business debate. If you don’t already have major support form being in office for several years, you may lose the election from not showing up to our debate. The proof is in the pudding below.

For Mayor the winner is:
Sherman Lea who got 82 %. Sherman was running unopposed. 17.8% of the public wrote in a different candidate. Surprisingly large number of people.

For City Council:
Anita Price               4,214 votes
Michelle Dykstra     4,143 votes
John Garland           3,534 votes - Showed up at REI Small Business Debate
Trish White-Boyd      3,487 votes - Wow that’s close - Blew off REI Debate
Freeda Cathcart          2,913 votes
Duane Howard           758    votes

REI of Virginia would like to congratulate the winners of the City Council and Mayor positions. Sherman Lea, Anita Price, Michelle Dykstra and John Garland. We know it was a long hard road for you. Now we hope that you will always act in the best interest of both the citizens and businesses. Creative thinkers are what we need. Relationship builders. A good relationship between local government, real estate investors & small business owners could make this city the Shining Star in the Valley again.