n LOUDOUN
4 | n LEESBURG
8 | n EDUCATION
10 | n TOWNS
17 | n LEGAL NOTICES
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ASK THE EXPERTS
PGS. 28-33
VOL. 8, NO. 31
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Primary Voters Pick Biberaj, Subramanyam, Srinivasan, Perry BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
Voters in Loudoun’s four Democratic primary races Tuesday largely went for party establishment candidates, picking as their November nominees incumbents Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj and Del. Suhas Subramanyam (D-87), financier Kannan Srinivasan to run for an open House seat, and Leesburg attorney Russet Perry for the state senate. Biberaj’s race, against challenger Elizabeth Lancaster, drew unusual national attention for a local primary. That countywide race saw both the most votes cast and the closest results of the night in Loudoun. Biberaj won the nomination with 56% of the vote, 13,044 votes to Lancaster’s 10,347, according to unofficial results Tuesday night. In the closing days of the primary race, well-funded conservative political action committees had stepped into the race to campaign for Lancaster. “We had this crazy Republicans coming in to try to vote in our election. You need to stay in your lane,” Biberaj said during an election night party at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn. “We said that to the governor, we said it to the Attorney General, we now say it to the Republicans, stay in your lane. We get to pick our Democratic nominee. You want to run your people, you run them in November.” And she called for voters to replace county Republican Sheriff Mike Chapman.
JUNE 22, 2023
Ballot Set for Local Elections More than 60 Candidates Vie for County, Town Seats BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj speaks at an election night party at Old Ox Brewery after winning her primary race Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
“We need to elect a new sheriff. I’m saying it on the record now,” she said. “And the reason why I’m saying it is because I spent three and a half years unnecessarily fighting somebody who does not see the success of safety. I’m calling it out because now is the time to do that. If he wants to ever come to the table and be a partner, I welcome him.” She said the Sheriff ’s Office is “hit or miss” in sharing timely information with prosecutors, especially in less-serious crimes. “We want to be partners in their decision making. We want to be partners in their evidence gathering. We want to be
partners so that we can prosecute a case. When we get the case, the case is pretty much done based on their perspective. What we want to do, we want to be part of that process so the right information is gathered so that when we go to court, it’s ready to be presented,” she said. In a statement Tuesday night, Lancaster congratulated Biberaj. “Our campaign was one of competence and progress, and I am both overwhelmed and humbled by the number of Loudoun citizens who came out to support me,”
The ballot is set for Loudoun County’s local elections in November that will feature another threeway contest for the county chairmanship and a School Board race that will have no more than two incumbents returning. Tuesday night was the deadline for candidates to qualify for the ballot in the races for the Board of Supervisors, School Board, constitutional offices, town council seats, and for Soil and Water Conservation District board of directors. Eighteen candidates are vying for the nine seats on the Board of Supervisors, with Vice Chair Koran Saines (D-Sterling) and Kristin Umstattd (D-Leesburg) running unopposed for re-election. For her third consecutive race, incumbent County Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) will face multiple challengers. She won the seat during a four-way race in 2015 and had two challengers in 2019. This fall, Republican Stephen Karbelk of Ashburn and independent Sam R. Kroiz of Lovettsville have joined the race. In the Algonkian District,
PRIMARY continues on page 43
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LOCAL BALLOT continues on page 36
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