Tuesday primaries: Roanoke council race continues to churn, Roanoke County race close (2024)

Two hours before polls closed on Tuesday for the citywide Democratic primary in Roanoke, candidate Jamaal Jackson submitted to the registrar’s office his notice of withdrawal from the race.

Jackson had previously announced his intent to withdraw on social media. But he did not turn in the official paperwork until 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to staff at the office.

With three city council seats up for election in November, the three remaining Democrats in the race are community organizer Terry McGuire, hospital administrator Phazhon Nash and small business owner Benjamin Woods.

Those three were also the leading vote-getters with most of city’s 21 precincts reporting as of 9 p.m. Tuesday night. Jackson’s name remained on ballots for most of the election, and he did receive votes. But he was considerably back of the third spot late Tuesday.

Also joining the ballot as independent candidates are longtime city Treasurer Evelyn Powers and attorney Cathy Reynolds, according to staff at the registrar’s office.

In the running for city council as Republicans are attorney Nick Hagen and entrepreneur Jim Garrett.

Primary election polls closed at 7 p.m., the same time as the deadline to file as an independent candidate for the city council. Those seven candidates – two Republicans, two independents and three Democrats – will compete for the three open seats in November.

Roanoke Republicans gathered at Montano’s Restaurant on Franklin Road for a meet and greet with candidates on Tuesday night.

Outside the crowded dining room, Garrett and Hagen said common sense and transparency are two improvements they want to bring to the city council.

“I think we need more common sense back in our government here in Roanoke,” Garrett said. “When Dan Casey writes an article in the paper about the lack of transparency of our city government, that should be an alarm bell going off for every for every citizen, no matter their political persuasion.”

Hagen added that people need to be given more opportunity to exercise their First Amendment right in petitioning their local government for change.

“The reality is that we offer a balance, because it’s been over 22 years since the last Republican was elected to council,” Hagen said. “We need fundamental change on council, and we offer a voice for people who feel like they haven’t been represented, like in 10, 15, 20 years.”

On the Democratic side, Woods said voters he’s spoken to want more common sense on the city council.

“The Democratic slate is representative of a new generation of leadership in Roanoke,” Woods said. “It’s a difference of attitudes in how you approach problems, and how you communicate effectively with the community that pays the bills.”

Nash said it’s on to November for his campaign team.

“No one wants to live in a city that’s not developing and thriving economically or socially … where they feel unsafe and … where streets are a mess,” Nash said. “Public safety, infrastructure, business development – all these efforts to make Roanoke the happiest and healthiest place for everyone to call home.”

McGuire said thanks to everybody who supported him in the primary election, but there’s a lot more to do.

“I’m going to continue to be focused on building a better future for Roanoke, for the next generation,” McGuire said. “A priority for me will continue to be after-school programming, youth recreation and restoring funding to the levels that we had in Parks & Recreation before the ’08-‘09 recession and budget cuts.”

The two independent candidates – Powers and Reynolds – could not immediately be reached after the 7 p.m. filing deadline on Tuesday.

Also unavailable for comment on Tuesday was Roanoke Registrar Andrew Cochran. Earlier this month, Cochran submitted documents to the commonwealth attorney’s office regarding problems with the petition of voter signatures that Jackson submitted with his filing paperwork.

Elsewhere during primary elections on Tuesday, Republicans in Roanoke County selected between incumbent Tammy Shepherd and school board member Tim Greenway for the GOP Vinton District supervisor nomination.

With all Roanoke County precincts reported except the provisional ballots, Shepherd held a lead of less than one percentage point over Greenway, a difference of 17 votes as of 9 p.m.