Lynn Chapman emerged as the only Republican candidate to face Democrat Del. David Poisson in the House of Delegates race to represent the 32nd District, when the filing deadline struck Sunday, March 18 at 5 p.m.
Suzanne Volpe, chairperson of the 32nd House Republican Legislative District Committee, said in a press release Chapman is the "only duly filed candidate" for the Republican nomination for the 32nd District seat.
The filing deadline put rumors of former delegate Dick Black's run for re-election to rest.
Black, a conservative Republican, held the seat from 1998 to 2005, when Poisson defeated the then incumbent.
"It was always my intention that I would only run if we didn’t have a pro-family conservative in the race," Black said. "I was simply there as a backup."
While Black said he had nothing to do with Chapman’s decision to run, he was happy to see him emerge as the lone Republican candidate.
"I think we’ve got a good candidate," Black said. "I’m happy to hear that he is running."
CHAPMAN, an Ashburn resident who has lived in Loudoun County off and on for 15 years, owns and operates a consulting firm in the area.
"I’m familiar with the issues that face Loudoun County residents," he said.
Chapman’s only previous involvement with politics was a brief stint in 2005, when he ran for the Republican nomination to fill the Senate seat vacated by William C. Mims (R-33) in a special election. Chapman came in third in a four-way primary that selected Sugarland Run District Supervisor Mick Staton to run against Democrat Mark Herring, who won seat.
The husband and father of seven decided to run in November’s race for a combination of reasons, he said, he would talk more about as the election nears.
For now, he is talking about taxes.
"I think we’re on the high side of where we want to be, if we look at government taxes," he said.
Chapman, who described himself as a fiscal conservative, said he would like to get a conversation going among his potential constituents on taxes.
"If you want the government to provide a lot of services, you have to be prepared to pay for those services. We’ve tried to have the best of both worlds," he said. "We the people get to decide how much taxes we want to contribute."
Chapman said he plans to talk more about education, transportation and growth later on in the race.
"These are all things that have to be discussed," he said. "I don't think we're having that dialogue right now."