Information Charlottesville

There appear to be two contested races for the Board of Supervisors with independent candidates lined up to face Democratic candidates in the Rivanna and White Hall Districts. Independent candidates have until June 20 to get their paperwork filed to be in the race.

In the Rivanna District, incumbent Bea LaPisto-Kirtley (D) has raised $11,800 from six donors, with $10,000 of that coming from Seminole Trail Management. That’s the company that owns the J.C. Penney building that Albemarle County is renting for a public safety fleet operations center. La-Pisto Kirtley also raised $1,000 from outgoing Scottsville District Supervisor Donna Price. The candidate spent $3,964 and had $7,835 on hand as of March 31.

Independent T.J. Fadeley raised $1,300 from four donors for his Rivanna District challenge against LaPisto-Kirtley. One of those was $250 from John Lowry, the chair of the Albemarle County Republican Committee. 

Neither candidate appears to have a campaign website at this time. 

In the White Hall District, incumbent Ann Mallek began the year with a balance of $1,969 and received $15,905 from eight donors. Mallek also received $10,000 from Seminole Trail Management as well as $5,000 from the Zobrist Law Group. She spent $234 and had an ending balance of $17,640. (campaign website)

Independent Brad Rykal raised $1,900 in March from nine donors including Lowry. Rykal spent $195 to have an ending balance of $1,705 at the end of the period. (campaign website) 

Rykal sent out a press release on April 10 announcing he would not accept campaign donations from developers or “special interest groups.”

“Politicians who accept money from outside interests often end up doing their bidding rather than representing the people who elected them,” Rykal said. “I’m not going to be anyone’s pawn. I’m here to serve White Hall, not the highest bidder.”

Democrat Mike Pruitt is the only candidate so far to replace Price in the Scottsville District. He had a starting balance of $3,015 as of January 1 and raised $2,209 from 23 donors in the first three months of the year. He spent $620 and ended March with $4,603 in his campaign account. (campaign website)

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Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the April 18, 2023 edition of the program as part of a segment from the latest campaign finance reports that were due on April 15. This and other stories from this day were produced by data made readily available by the Virginia Public Access Project.

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