STAFFORD — Tom Coen sat in the Paradise Diner on Route 17 celebrating his first election to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.
First appointed to the Board in January, on Tuesday, voters gave the independent a seat on the county’s top governing board for the next four years.
“We’re really happy with the outcome, and we ran a great campaign,” said Coen.
He beat his Republican challenger Gordon Silver by six and a half points. Coen took a chance by running as an independent, bucking the Republican Party and, at the same time, the all-Republican Board of Supervisors that appointed him earlier in the year.
Coen said his constituents told him that they’re tired voting for candidates beholden to a certain political party. He campaigned on controlling development and growth in the county, vowing to restrict new construction to areas of the county already developed while preserving open space.
The George Washington District seat was the only local seat up for grabs this election. Next year, Jack Cavalier (Griffis-Widewater) and Wendy Maurer (Rock Hill), who are also on the Board of Supervisors will be up for reelection.
In Stafford County, those voters who’ve historically elected Republicans, are casting more ballots for Democrats.
Vangie Williams lost her bid for Congress against Republican incumbent Rob Wittman, but she was able to keep six precincts in the win column for the Democrats and nearly flip two more with less than one percent of the vote.
Woodlands and Hampton are the precincts that nearly flipped to the Democrats, while Barrett, Courthouse, Aquia, Gayle, England Run, and Whitson remained solidly in the blue column.
