Candidates Return from the Political Graveyard and the Shortest Congressional Campaign in History – All in Roanoke City!

This past Saturday, Roanoke City Democrats nominated three candidates for City Council. I am still trying to make sense of the results. Political newcomers Court Rosen and Anita Price were nominated. At 29, I think Rosen was able to tap into the growing block of young professionals who are becoming increasingly active in City politics. I don’t know enough about Price to determine how she was victorious. Surprising to me was the loss of incumbent Bev Fitzpatrick and the victory of fellow incumbent Sherman Lea. Fitzpatrick has been part of the progressive majority on Council, while Lea has been a consistent obstructionist, aligning himself with Brian Wishneff.

And most surprising was the loss of Rich Cranwell. That’s right, the son of the Democratic State Party Chair came in fourth place. It was often joked that this was really the beginning of Rich’s run for Congress. I’d say this was actually the end. I know Bob Goodlatte will sleep a bit easier at night.

But the Democratic candidates are not finished. It’s well known that a slate of independent candidates will be running in the May election. Everyone has an opinion of who that might be. David Bowers, Granger McFarlane, Stuart Revercomb, Alice Hincker and Mac McCadden have all been rumored to be running. Can anyone guess how many collective political loses this group of people has between them? Don’t try—it can be a bit overwhelming. It used to be that Democrats went to the local graveyard to “dig up” votes. Now it seems we are going to the political graveyard for actual candidates.