Voters keep statue where it is, GOP sweeps the county
Published 1:26 pm Wednesday, November 11, 2020
More than 70% of Lunenburg County voters cast ballots to keep the Confederate Heroes statues located on the Lunenburg Courthouse lawn.
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Lunenburg County voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, Nov. 3, to keep the Confederate soldier monument right where it is on the courthouse lawn.
The referendum on the Lunenburg County ballot asked if the monument honoring the memory of the Lunenburg soldiers and women during the Civil War should remain on Lunenburg County Courthouse property. The voters said yes it should by a vote of 4,149 (71.19%) to 1,683 (28.81%)
The referendum is non-binding, but a majority of the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors have said they would honor the will of the voters.
The question was placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors in July after the board received a letter with a request from Rev. Wiley and Carole Wallace that the statue be moved from in front of the courthouse.
Given three options of how to deal with Confederate statues in recent legislation approved by the General Assembly, the board held a public hearing and decided to go the referendum route.
In other races voted on Tuesday, Kenbridge Town Council member Mike McGrath and Michael Bender won positions on the board. McGrath was appointed to serve on the Town Council in March to fill the open seat left by Daniel Thompson. McGrath is also the boys varsity basketball coach at Central High School. This is his third term of service on the council. Bender will fill the vacant seat left when Ken Blackburn was appointed to be the town’s mayor.
After the two local elections, Lunenburg voters supported all Republican candidates. President Donald Trump received 3,525, or 59% of the vote to Joe Biden’s 2,395, or 40% of the total vote.
In the U.S. Senate race, challenger Daniel Gade received 3,348 votes compared to eventual winner and incumbent Mark Warner’s 2,510 votes.
In the race for the 5th Congressional seat, district-wide winner Robert Good received 3,378 votes compared to 2,414 for Cameron Webb.
Lunenburg County approved both of the state constitutional amendments by wide margins.
