Abbs wins by five votes in Orange supervisor’s race

Five votes.

At the end of months of campaigning and 13 hours of voting, the District 1 Board of Supervisors race came down to just five votes. And those five votes were enough for Somerset challenger Shannon Abbs to edge three-term supervisor Mark

Johnson to represent the county’s western-most district on the board of supervisors.

Even in today’s era of instantaneous results from electronic voting machines, there was a fair amount of suspense as the totals trickled into election headquarters Tuesday night.

With District 1 West (Barboursville Firehouse) reporting first, Johnson (523 votes) held a comfortable margin over Abbs (442) and Andy McWilliams (204).

Half an hour later, when District 1 East (Gordonsville Town Hall) results were reported, Johnson still lead, but the margin had shrunk to just 17 votes (621-604-285).

Meanwhile both precincts had reported there were still the absentee ballots to count. Shortly after 9 p.m., Orange County Registrar Raymond Cady reported the absentee ballots and a District 1 Supervisor was elected.

McWilliams collected nine absentee votes. And Abbs outgained Johnson 47-25 to win the seat by a five-vote margin.

“I want to thank every person who voted for me today,“ Abbs said Tuesday night. “I cannot wait to start working for the District 1 citizens.“

Abbs added, “I respect Mark Johnson for the service he has provided Orange County and I think Andy McWilliams worked really hard and did a great job campaigning.“

Four years ago, Johnson ran unopposed for a third term and collected 1,178 votes. Two years before that, he ran against Rod Slayton and won with 80 percent of the votes. In 1999, Slayton edged Johnson by just eight votes. Johnson won his first term on the board in 1995 beating incumbent Bill Roberts by three votes.

“I feel bad for my supporters,“ Johnson said Tuesday evening. “They worked really hard.“

McWilliams, meanwhile, said he was encouraged by the number of votes he got and said, “I’m proud of the people who came out and supported me. I think it was a really good race.“

He said he received a lot of good feedback from District 1 constituents and would be interested in making another attempt at public office.

“It was really interesting and a worthwhile experience,“ he said.

Abbs begins her four-year term in January.

During the campaign, she said she’d like to see a renewed emphasis on economic development in Orange County, as a means of broadening the tax base and creating more employment opportunities for county residents. In addition, she said, she’s a proponent of carefully planned moderate residential growth.

She is 36 years old and lives in Somerset with her husband James and son Jacob. She holds a bachelors degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in social sciences from UVa.