The Democrats made it. The three nominees, Incumbent Satyendra Huja, fellow Democratic nominees Dede Smith and Kathy Galvin, have won the three open City Council seats.
According to the Virginia State Board of Elections, Huja got the most votes, 4,608 (23.5 percent), followed by Galvin with 4,601 (23.47 percent) and Smith with 4,547 (23.1 percent).
Smith thanked her opponents, Independents Bob Fenwick, Brandon Collins, Andrew Williams and Scott Bandy, for making of this election "a real model of Democracy. We had too many good people for the number of seats available," she said.
Asked about what priorities they would bring to Council, Smith pointed to the balance between growth and natural resources. "I really think what we need to do is balance the quality of life, which makes Charlottesville so special, with the inevitable growth and development and really be an attractive growth and development and really balance that with all the things that are really special to this community."
Galvin said she would like to look into the Orange Dot report and "the water resources protection plan that is been put on hold since 2009."
On the matter of the Meadow Creek Parkway and the community supply plan, Smith said she is looking forward to "a very lively and fact-based discussion about those issues and i think that again, is what Democracy is about, and that’s what our ticket always represented, a real diversity of opinion and a real coming together of community engagement in this process."
The Charlottesville School Board race yielded a few surprises. Amy Laufer, local attorney Jennifer McKeever, Willa Neale and Incumbent Colette Blount won the four seats on the school board. Incumbent Guian McKee came in fifth with 13.5 percent of the votes. Laufer got the most votes, 3,993 (20.34 percent) followed by Neale with 3,803 (19.37 percent), Blount with 3,050 (15.53 percent), and finally McKeever with 2,861 (14.57 percent).
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The crowd at the Democrats victory party at Vivace on Ivy Road.