Charlottesville School Board candidate forum set for October 14

There are just over three weeks until Election Day and early voting has been underway since September 19.

As of October 12, 2,998 voters in Charlottesville have cast ballots already, up from 1,438 cast at this point in the 2021 election. That information and campaign finance records listed below come from data compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.

For those who have not yet voted, Charlottesville Democrats are holding a candidate forum for the four people running for three seats on the city School Board. This will take place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Jefferson School. The event will begin with a discussion followed by a question answer period.

The groups Charlottesville United for Public Education and In My Humble Opinion will provide a live stream.

The four candidates are:

• Zyahna Bryant — a first-time candidate whose campaign has raised $10,106 through August 31, 2025
• Emily Louise Dooley — an incumbent seeking a second term who began the year with $4,304 in her campaign finance account and has raised $2,344 through August 31, 2025
• Lisa Deanne Larson-Torres — an incumbent seeking a third term who had $1,634 on hand at the beginning of 2025 and has raised $2,250 through the first eight months of the year.
• Dashad Lorenzo Cooper — a candidate who has run previously for other offices who has raised $1,636 through August 31, 2025.

For more on this race, take a look at this September 19, 2025 article on Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Before you go: The time to write and conduct research for this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the October 13, 2025 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.