As Virginia voters head to the polls Tuesday to elect their new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, voters in some Appomattox County districts also will be voting on supervisors and school board members.

Voters in the Falling River District will be voting on a school board member while voters in the Piney Mountain District and Courthouse District will vote for both a supervisor and school board member.

All but two of the races are uncontested, but one of the contested races has generated plenty of controversy in the community. The Courthouse District Supervisor contest pits incumbent Samuel Carter against challenger A.R. Evans Jr.

The other supervisor position involves the Rev. Al Jones III running unopposed for the Piney Mountain District seat that Watkins Abbitt Jr. held for one term after a 26-year tenure at the Virginia House of Delegates. Abbitt opted not to run for a second term. Jones previously served on the Appomattox County School Board representing the Piney Mountain District from January 2014 until his resignation this April.

The school board has one contested race. Bobby Waddell is the incumbent for the Piney Mountain District, a seat he has filled since May after Jones’ resignation. But he had 15 years of prior service on the board for the Falling Creek District. He had resigned in November 2020 after moving to a residence outside that district. The challenger, Karin Robertson, recently announced her write-in campaign for the position.

In the two other school board elections, incumbent Greg Smith is running unopposed in the Courthouse District, and incumbent Roger Stough is running unopposed in the Falling River District.

The Times Virginian asked the candidates to provide a statement about their platform, but only Evans replied (see the separate article).

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