By Brandon Martin
Incumbents Kathy Lawson and Chad Martin were the two top vote-getters in the race for Martinsville City Council, according to unofficial results. Newcomer Tammy Pearson edged out Jim Woods in the battle for the third spot.
Lawson garnered 3,318 votes in total, with votes from the Martinsville City School Administrative Offices emerging as the strongest with 409 votes.
Martin secured 2,732 votes, and Pearson won 2,415.
Nelson Edwards and Woods received 1,798 and 1,755 votes, respectively.
“I can finally let out a sigh of relief,” Lawson said Tuesday night. “I’m glad the process is finally done and I’m so happy that I get to continue serving the community.”
Going forward, Lawson said she will continue to focus on the city’s ongoing projects.
“We’ve got some buildings that are being renovated uptown and some really exciting projects that have a lot of potential, so I’ll be mainly focused on that in the upcoming year,” she added.
After the votes were tallied, Martin said he was feeling “really good.” Another term is “an affirmation. I want to give shout-outs to everyone that ran this year. I feel bad about Jim because people don’t really understand the sacrifices he made to serve his city. I already knew the Mayor was going to get the most votes, but I do want to say congratulations to Mrs. Pearson, as well.”
Martin said he will continue working on projects to help city residents.
“I’ve recently been working on a partnership with the state of Virginia, and we will be getting 10,000 masks and hand sanitizer here soon,” Martin said. “We aren’t out of COVID yet, so now I really want to concentrate on getting those distributed and now it’s time to bare down on reversion.”
Former Vice-President Joe Biden edged out President Donald J. Trump among Martinsville voters, with 3,741 and 2,164 votes, respectively.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Alexandria, more than doubled the total of his challenger, Daniel Gade, with 3,932 votes to Gade’s 1,880 votes.
Ninth District U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, ran unopposed, and amassed 3,042 votes.
Both constitutional amendments on the ballot overwhelmingly passed in Martinsville, with 4,094 favoring Amendment 1 and 4,174 cast in support of Amendment 2.
In Henry County, and according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections website, Trump won the majority of ballots cast, 16,601, to Biden’s 8,995.
Biden carried the vote only in the Horsepasture #2 precinct and in absentee ballots, according to unofficial results.
Also, among county voters, Warner lost his contest with Gade, with 10,466 votes to 14,944, respectively.
Virginia’s 5th Congressional District was the closest contest in the county, with Bob Good narrowly beating Cameron Webb, with 55.86 percent of the vote. Webb gained 3,112 votes, falling short of Good’s 3,949 total.
Griffith received 14,384 among county voters.
Both congressional amendments passed in Henry County, with 63.48 percent voting for Amendment 1 and 88.32 percent supporting Amendment 2.
County voters also agreed to an increase in the local sales tax, with 12,847 votes for compared to 10,707 against.
Pearson could not be reached for comment on her win.
