Becoming Loudoun's next Commonwealth Attorney has not fazed James "Jim" Plowman (R), at least not yet.
"It hasn't hit," Plowman said after finding out he received 56.56 percent of the vote to incumbent Robert "Bob" Anderson (I)'s 43.09 percent. "It will sink in the next couple of weeks. It is humbling when people elect you in an important process."
Anderson congratulated Plowman at the Republican Committee's victory party Tuesday evening. "I give tremendous credit to Bob Anderson. I think the two of us pledged in the beginning, it's going to be a fair campaign," he said, adding that they both "stuck to the issues." "He ran a good campaign."
Before he takes office in January, Plowman plans to start on the transition process by evaluating the office procedurally and meeting the staff. The Commonwealth Attorney handles the prosecution of criminal offenses in Loudoun County from eight police agencies, including the Sheriff's Office. "This is just the beginning," he said about 10 months of campaigning. "There's going to be a lot of work ahead."
THREE of the four open constitutional officer races were contested, excluding that of Roger Zurn, Jr. (R), who ran uncontested to continue serving as the county treasurer.
Bob Wertz (R) received 75.2 percent of the votes to Franco Luz (D)'s 24.48 percent to serve as the next Commissioner of Revenue. The Commissioner of Revenue handles the assessments of business tangible personal property, business license and personal property taxes. Catherine Ashby plans to resign as Commissioner of the Revenue at the end of the year after serving in the role since 1985.
Wertz, an employee of the Commissioner of Revenue's Office for the past 11 years, wants to expedite the taxation process and gain local tax control.
"It's been a long 10 months, and I'm glad tonight's finally here," Wertz said.