First Transgender on Board of Supervisors in Albemarle County, VA Voted In as Vice-Chair

As reported by local news agencies, Donna Price (D), elected to the Board of Supervisors in the Scottsville District in Albemarle County, Virginia has been voted to be the Vice-Chair. See the tweet below with the announcement of a historic election marking a change in the times in Virginia, which is good to some, possibly not to some others. This would all depend on where you stand on the topic of transgendered people, to begin with, a very sensitive topic no matter where it comes up, and something often censored by social media companies if the wording and framing of the situations aren’t up to the code of conducts, or “community standards”.

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors began its 2020 annual meeting with the addition of two new supervisors, Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, representing the Rivanna District, and Donna Price, representing the Scottsville District. https://t.co/uWlAEIlCRR pic.twitter.com/MQ4OgaD9bj

— CG0 (@AugFreePress) January 8, 2020

According to the Augusta Free Press and other local news reports, Price is the first transgender person elected to serve on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Local media also reported that it is the first time five women are serving on the Board and all six members are Democrats. Ned Gallaway, who was elected in 2017, was voted to be the Chair.

From the Daily Progress, Price is proud to bring years of public service experience to ensure equitable policy outcomes for all county residents. “I am deeply honored by your trust and confidence,”

Price was elected in November, winning 55-45% of the vote over challenger Michael Hallahan (R). Hallahan was the winner in terms of miles covered but Price won by taking a couple of population heavy precincts near Charlottesville.

In the Board of Supervisors race, incumbent Ann Mallek fended off a challenge from Republican Steve Harvey, winning by more than a thousand votes. And in Scottsville, Navy veteran Donna Price (D) beat Michael Hallahan, 55% to 44%.

— C-VILLE Weekly (@cville_weekly) November 6, 2019

LGBTQ lobby group Victoryfund.org says that six openly transgender candidates won office in November, bringing the total to 23 total nationwide.

This will not go without at least some controversy, and she is not the first to be elected to office in the state of Virginia. Local talk show host Rob Schilling posted about the election, and although he didn’t criticize the situation, he did seem to allude to the ‘out of the ordinary’ of it by referencing it as “a picture worth thousand words”, before summarizing the news. Some of the comments in the Facebook post may shed more light on where some disagreement is. See the post below:

The first Virginia lawmaker was actually re-elected to a statewide position last year when Democrats won both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Danica Roem defeated the Republican back in November in that district by a 57-43 margin. She flipped the seat blue in 2017, beating a candidate who tried to restrict bathrooms to transgender people.