By Calvin Pynn, senior contributor
Editor’s note: this story will be updated with additional comment and context on Monday morning
According to results announced Saturday evening by the Harrisonburg Democratic Committee, Mayor Deanna Reed, along with political newcomers Charles Hendricks and Laura Dent, have been chosen as the Democratic nominees for City Council in the November election.
The candidates were selected through an unassembled caucus organized by the city Democratic Committee to contest the three council seats up for election in November. The virtual caucus, which counted ballots submitted by mail and email, closed at 5pm on Saturday, with 533 ballots received.
Reed earned 438 votes (82%). Charles Hendricks – co-owner of Gaines Group Architects – finished second with 323 votes (61%), while Laura Dent – a James Madison University adjunct professor and freelance technical writer – finished with 310 votes (58%).
Incumbent Richard Baugh, first elected to City Council in 2008, finished with 234 votes (44%), missing out on a nomination to seek his fourth consecutive term. Local activist and recent JMU graduate Luciano Benjamin earned 152 votes (29%).
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