White Powder Found In Letter To Candidate's Office

RICHMOND, Va. - Hazardous materials teams and investigators combed the headquarters of a Republican congressional candidate in Chatham after a letter containing white powder was opened.

Robert Hurt's congressional campaign spokesman Sean Harrison says the powder was found in an envelope Hurt opened Friday afternoon.

Pittsylvania County Sheriff Mike Taylor said results of tests conducted on the substance will be available in two to three days. Taylor said the U.S. Postal Service is leading the investigation.

"It is a criminal offense to mail a suspicious material, even if it is nontoxic," Taylor said. "... It did give rise to concern. Unfortunately in today's society, you can't take any chances with these things."

Harrison said Hurt followed decontamination procedures after opening the envelope, including washing thoroughly and changing his clothes, before going home to his family Friday evening.

Hurt is trying to move from Virginia's state Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

He is challenging first-term Democrat Tom Perriello for Virginia's 5th Congressional District seat.

The race is one of the nation's most closely watched midterm House races.

www.wtkr.com

~Worcester County~18 Seek County Commissioner Seats-

SNOW HILL – Eighteen candidates filed to compete for the seven Worcester County Commissioner seats by the July 6 deadline.

The most competition has appeared in District 1, with five candidates emerging to contest for Commissioner Bobby Cowger’s seat.

Democrat Jimmy Schoolfield is ensured of competing in the general election, but the other four District 1 candidates must jockey with each other in the September primary for the Republican nomination.

Republicans Jerre Clauss, Merill W. Lockfaw, Jr., Bill McDermott and Larry Ward will fight for the party nomination.

In District 2, incumbent Commissioner Jim Purnell will face Ed Lee in the September primary election for the Democratic nomination. At this point, there is no Republican candidate in District 2.

Currently, Republican Commissioner Bud Church is unchallenged in District 3.

Longtime District 4 Commissioner Virgil Shockley, a Democrat, will face fellow Democrat Tommy Tucker in the September primary. The winner of that contest will go on to face Republican Ted Elder, who lost to Shockley in 2006, taking 38 percent of the vote.

In 2006, District 5 Commissioner Judy Boggs ran unopposed, but in 2010, she must surpass Republican challenger Bob Thompson in the primary. The victor will go on to face Democrat John Bodnar.

In District 6, Commissioner Linda Busick will face fellow Republican Jim Bunting in the September primary.

District 7 Commissioner Louise Gulyas, a Republican, nearly ran unopposed for re-election, until her 2006 opponent, Democrat Ellie Diegelmann, filed at the last minute. In 2006, Gulyas defeated Diegelmann with 65 percent of the vote.

The surprise of the election season so far is the numerous candidates for the District 1 commissioner race.

“People tend to think incumbents have a little bit of an edge and it seems when an incumbent steps out more people file for that office,” said Elections Board Supervisor Patti Jackson.

In 2006, when then District 1 Commissioner Sonny Bloxom decided not to run for re-election to his commissioner seat to run for state office, three contenders emerged for the District 1 seat.

“Everyone has their own idea about government,” said District 1 candidate Ward, when asked why so many candidates chose to run for the seat.

Another change from 2006 is the District 5 race. Four years ago, Boggs ran unopposed. Now she faces two opponents, and almost faced three, but early filer Ray Unger withdrew his candidacy.

“I assume other people have an interest in being county commissioner, and that’s democracy,” Boggs said.

Bodnar said he decided to run because of his concerns about jobs in the county, not because he has anything against Boggs.

“I’ve always wanted to run for that seat,” Bodnar said, who added the time was not right for him personally in previous elections.

While many thought Diegelmann would once again run against Gulyas, her decision to hold off on committing until the last minute had some thinking Gulyas would run unopposed.

“I just figured that someone would file. Why should I have a free ride?” Gulyas said after the late filing. “I thought from the beginning that she would file.”

Diegelmann was the last candidate in Worcester County to file, said Jackson.

“I waited ‘til the very last minute literally because I was hoping someone else would file,” Diegelman said. “I wanted to encourage other people to file.”

Diegelmann said she is a “hopeful optimist” and thought she had a chance to unseat Gulyas, saying that a lot of things change in four years.

www.mdcoastdispatch.com

Crisfield Election Investigated

CRISFIELD -- The U.S. Justice Department is expected to begin its own investigation into the recent Crisfield election following allegations that improper and illegal voting procedures may have been used.

The ACLU of Maryland has started its own probe into the matter, and a representative met with as many as 20 concerned residents last week in Crisfield, said Deborah Jeon, an attorney for the civil rights group.

Jeon said city elections officials turned away a number of potential voters without giving them provisional ballots.

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that provisional ballots were given to people whose names could not be immediately verified as being registered voters, she said.

Jeon said, at this point, she is unsure of the number of people who were turned away.

"We're still in the process of investigating," she said.

Within days of the June 16 election, the American Civil Liberties Union detailed a number of alleged irregularities, including unlawful voter identification requirements and the failure to offer rejected voters a provisional ballot, which the group said appeared to have disproportionately affected African-American voters.

The ACLU said it was acting on behalf of mayoral candidate James Lane and several African-American voters.

Lane, who lost the election to incumbent Percy Purnell, said he knows people who were turned away or who witnessed improprieties.

"We feel very strongly there are some very serious problems," he said.

Robin Cockey, the city's attorney, said he was unaware the Justice Department planned to launch an investigation.

"That's interesting and surprising," he said. "I didn't know the ACLU thought this was still a viable issue."

Cockey said he is still in the process of conducting his own investigation, but believes the ACLU's allegations are unfounded.

When city elections officials could not find names on their lists, they called the county election office in Princess Anne for verification. Those who were registered were allowed to vote, but those who were unregistered were turned away, he said.

After the county office closed, city poll workers gave out provisional ballots to people whose names were not on the list.

"The bottom line is, anyone who was registered to vote and who wanted to vote was able to vote," he said.

This week, city elections officials verified and opened the remaining 17 provisional ballots filed during the election.

While all 17 were verified to be registered voters, one ballot was left blank, said Joyce Morgan, the city's clerk-treasurer, who was present along with election board members when the ballots were opened Wednesday.

Candidates in the election were notified that the ballots would be opened Wednesday, but none showed up, Morgan said.

With the opening of the provisional ballots, all of the candidates, except one, picked up additional votes.

In the mayor's race, incumbent Percy Purnell received 5 votes and challenger James Lane, 11.

Votes cast for City Council were Raymond Anderson, 5; Barry Dize, 4; Robert Hooks, 2; Jordan Joyner, 4; Kim Lawson, 5; Carolyn Marquis, 4; Greg Sterling, 3; and Pamela Whittington, 10.

Three incumbent City Council members --Raymond Anderson, Barry Dize and Kim Lawson, who were elected with Purnell in 2006 as part of the Clean Sweep Team --were the winners for their at-large seats.

Purnell, Anderson, Dize and Lawson are scheduled to be sworn-in for their second terms July 12.

www.delmarvanow.com