Taxes will be Del. Richard "Dick" Black's top priority for the next four years he is in office.
Black (R-32) pulled 52.07 percent of the votes, followed by Patti Morrissey (D)'s 36.51 percent and David McWatters (I)'s 11.33 percent.
"There's a big push to increase taxes this year," said Black, a Sterling resident and delegate since 1998. He plans to continue fighting against higher taxes and to support families, schools and improved transportation.
"We ran a really good clean positive campaign. Our opponent ran a different kind of campaign," Black said. "My elections are unique. They represent vindication for a set of principles."
Black receives his support from "a group of people that favors limited governmental intrusion in their lives," he said. "It's a whole array of things that deal with individual freedom. I think the Democratic Party is suffering from some of the radical social positions they have taken." Morrissey and McWatters did not return phone calls by press time.
Incumbents Joe May (R) of Leesburg and Gary Reese (R) of Oak Hill ran uncontested in the 33rd District and 67th District respectively.
Incumbent Thomas Davis Rust (R) received 61.93 percent of the votes in the 86th District, while Jim Kelly (D) received 37.72 percent. Rust, a Herndon resident, served on the Herndon Town Council for 25 years before becoming a senator in 2002.
AT THE SENATE LEVEL, voters elected a senator either for the 27th District or for the 33rd District to serve a four-year term. The candidates for the 27th District were Russell Potts, Jr. (R), incumbent and a Winchester resident, and Mark Herring (D), Leesburg representative for the Board of Supervisors and a Leesburg resident. Herring received 53.38 percent of the votes and Potts, 45.2 percent. William "Bill" Mims (R) of Sterling, incumbent and a former 32nd District delegate, ran uncontested in the 33rd District where he has served as senator since 1998.
"This is the first time I'm unopposed," Mims said. "I'm grateful for the vote of confidence. I'm looking forward to spending four more years in Richmond working to serve this district."
Mims pointed to the importance of "the budget situation" in the county and the state's continuing to fund schools while trying to balance its own budget, along with his work on transportation safety.