One of tonight's anchors, Elliott Walker, spoke earlier with one of the Rockbridge Area's "more eclectic citizens" about local politics:
As the deadline for voting in this year's races drew to a close, I sat down to chat with one of Lexington’s more eclectic citizens about the elections. Doug Harwood is the well-known editor of the Rockbridge Advocate. He came into The Rockbridge Report's studio to talk about voter turnout, races to watch and the lack of political enthusiasm in local elections.
I found Harwood's insights on local politics a bit surprising. He says local citizens don't get really involved with the elections that will affect them. Why is that? Harwood spoke at length about a theory he has. He also made some disconcerting remarks concerning the lack of importance the issues seem to have in local races. Harwood believes voters may not be compelled to install new Board of Supervisors members even though the Board's land use policies have been controversial. Is winning a local race like running for student government in high school? Do local residents look for the pretty faces and family connections?
We also talked about local races to watch this evening. Harwood says the supervisors' races may be ones to watch, especially the one in Walkers Creek. Apparently Walkers Creek doesn't like to keep incumbents around, but with two candidates running in opposition to incumbent Monty Fix the result could be interesting.
Tune in to The Rockbridge Report at 8 and 10 p.m. on Cable Channel 18 to hear more about our interview.
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