Culpeper voters excited about change

The intermittent rain didn’t stop the flood of registered Culpeper voters from pouring into polling stations on Tuesday.

Cedar Mountain
By noon, 1,100 of the 2,432 registered voters in the Cedar Mountain District had cast their votes at Pearl Sample Elementary School.
Becky Walser — a registered Republican — said she went against party lines and voted for Barack Obama for president.
“We haven’t had any good luck with what the Republicans have been doing over the last eight years,” she said.
Before the doors opened at 6 a.m., poll worker Joan Proctor said, people were lined up in front of the school.
“They were here before we got here,” she said. “We did 100 per hour for the first two hours.”
The steady stream of voters filled the school’s hallways from 6 to 11:30 a.m., according to Proctor. But by lunchtime, the rush had slowed dramatically.
At the corner of Simms and U.S.15., voters were greeted with a bevy of political signs, vying for that last minute pitch.
Contina Lewis, a Democrat, said she went with the Obama-Joe Biden ticket, seeking change.
“He’s going to be real about it,” she said.
Republican June Vranian stuck with her party lines, voting for John McCain, Republican incumbent Eric Cantor for the U.S. House of Representatives’ 7th District and Republican Jim Gilmore for U.S. Senate over Democrat Mark Warner.
“I believe in what (McCain) stood for,” she said. “I admire his past record as a patriot and soldier and I don’t agree with most of what Obama was stand-ing for.”
Vranian said she attended Tucker High School in Richmond with Gilmore.
That connection, she said, made her vote for Senator easier.
“Plus, (Mark) Warner is a little bit too liberal for me,” she added.
Independent voter Noah Gigli-otti split his vote between the Republican and Democratic candidates.
“I went for vice president,” he said of the Obama-Biden ticket. “If something were to happen to either (Obama or McCain), I was concerned with who would run the country. I really think Joe could do it.
“That’s why I vote independent so that I’m not tied to one party,” he added.
Gigliotti chose Cantor over Democrat Anita Hartke and Warner over Gilmore.

Cardova
Across town, nearly 800 of the 1,800 registered voters in Car-dova cast their ballots at Culpeper County High School by 12:30 p.m., according to poll workers.
Brittany Rogers, 22, brought her two younger sisters, Denae, 16, and Toni, 12, with her to the polls.
“Obama all the way, I’m ready for a change,” said the recent college grad. “He’s young, enthusiastic and has new ideas.”
Brenda Shumway shared her excitement for McCain.
“You want to know why I voted for McCain?” Brenda Shumway asked. “Because if Obama brings our troops home, (terrorists) are going to follow us. People are worried about the economy right now. The economy will improve. But if they follow us over here, we’ve got problems.”
Her husband Bruce Shumway, an Army veteran who served in Korea, says he relates to McCain’s military service.
“I admire (McCain) for that,” he said.

Rhonda Simmons can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 125 or .