Supervisors to hold three public hearings; Board to consider road improvement projects, talk affordable housing; Trump endorses McGuire in VA05
Supervisors to hold three public hearings; Board to consider road improvement projects, talk affordable housing; Trump endorses McGuire in VA05
Engage Louisa is a nonpartisan newsletter that keeps folks informed about Louisa County government. We believe our community is stronger and our government serves us better when we increase transparency, accessibility, and engagement.
Supervisors asking for input on potential upgrades to Parks and Rec facilities
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors is looking for citizen input on potential upgrades to the county’s Parks and Recreation facilities.
According to a press release issued by the county last week, the board is asking residents to fill out a short survey and share their views on the county’s public parks, playing fields, outdoor pool and other recreational venues. The survey is aimed at determining whether taxpayer money should be spent to upgrade or expand county facilities and, if so, where and how it should be invested.
“The survey will collect views of current park infrastructure, asks respondents to choose the most important projects to them, and aims to identify what will be most valued and utilized by members of the community,” the release says. “Alternately, the survey also allows citizens to indicate if the park system is meeting their needs and no changes are needed.”
Fill out the survey here.
This week in county government: public meetings, June 3 through June 8
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here. (Note: Louisa County occasionally schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Monday, June 3
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda packet, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.
Tuesday, June 4
Louisa County School Board, Central Office Administration Building, 953 Davis Highway, Mineral, 7 pm. (agenda, livestream)
Additional information about Louisa County’s upcoming public meetings is available here.
Interested in taking your talents to one of the county’s numerous boards and commissions? Find out more here including which boards have vacancies and how to apply.
Supervisors to hold three public hearings
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night will hold three public hearings, deciding whether to restrict utility-scale solar development to no more than two percent of the county’s land, considering whether to permit truck stops and 12 other uses in one or more of the county’s zoning designations and deciding whether to move two of the county’s polling places to new locations ahead of November’s presidential election.
Supes to consider adding 13 uses to the land use matrix including truck stop
Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to approve amendments to the county’s Land Development Regulations that would add 13 uses to the zoning code’s matrix of uses. The matrix identifies which uses are permitted by-right, by-right with restrictions, with a conditional use permit or disallowed in the county’s 19 zoning designations.
The amendments could add the following uses to the matrix, which are defined in code but not explicitly permitted in any zoning designation: automobile graveyard; call center; data center; greenhouse, commercial; impound lot; junkyard; laundry facility; motion picture theater, adult; recreation facility, private; recreation facility, public; tiny houses; truck stop; and video-viewing booth or arcade booth, adult. (Data centers are separately permitted in the county’s Technology Overlay District).
The Planning Commission at its May 9 meeting voted 5-1 to recommend that supervisors add only one of the defined uses to the matrix—truck stop. The commission said that county officials should consider the rest of the uses during a review of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan later this year.
Commissioners recommended permitting truck stops only in General Commercial zoning in Growth Area Overlay Districts (C-2 GAOD) and requiring applicants to obtain a conditional use permit (CUP) for the use.
The commission’s recommendation comes as Love’s Travel Stop, an Oklahoma City-based company that operates some 600 truck stops in 42 states, has asked Louisa County for permission to build a truck stop on about 31 acres of a 51-acre site near the Gum Spring interchange along Interstate 64.
Love’s has applied to rezone, from General Agricultural (A-2 GAOD) to General Commercial (C-2 GAOD), parts of three parcels along Route 522 just south of the interstate in the Gum Spring Growth Area Overlay District (tmp 100-87, 100-88, 100-90) where it plans to build a gas station, restaurant and parking facility with accommodations for long-haul truckers and other motorists. The company has a contract to buy the parcels from the W.W. Whitlock Agency.
Love’s submitted its application in early 2023 based on a 2018 zoning determination letter issued by then-Community Development Director Robert Gardner. The letter, which Engage Louisa obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, was initially issued to another company for the subject parcels. It said that the conglomeration of uses that comprise a truck stop—a gas station, fast food restaurant and parking facility, among others—could be permitted separately and were by-right in C-2 zoning.
Since the parcels are split-zoned, with 28 acres in the front zoned General Commercial and about 23 acres in the back zoned Agricultural, Love’s believed it could establish a truck stop by-right in the C-2 section, necessitating a rezoning only for the A-2 portion. Love’s intended to build the bulk of its truck stop in the front while using the back mostly for additional parking and a wastewater treatment facility.
But Louisa County has since determined that a truck stop isn’t a permitted use under current code and can’t be green-lighted via its component uses, throwing Love’s application in limbo.
That determination is apparently the result of a 2021 rewrite of the zoning code, which defined truck stop as a use but didn’t include it in the matrix. Prior to 2021, the use wasn’t included in county code at all.
Since the use is defined in code but not explicitly permitted anywhere in the county, staff determined that, unless the use was added to the matrix and permitted in at least one zoning designation, the only path forward for Love’s to establish a truck stop is to obtain a special exception from the board of supervisors.
Based on the planning commission’s recommendation, which will be considered by the board on Monday, truck stop would be added to the matrix, eliminating the need for a special exception.
To move forward with its plan as currently presented, Love’s would instead be required to rezone the Agricultural portion of its property and acquire a CUP for the parcels. The company’s application hasn’t been deemed complete by county planning staff and could change.
The proposed truck stop has sparked strong opposition from some Gum Spring residents, who packed a neighborhood meeting in February to oppose the request. They argued that the use is ill-suited for their quiet community and would lead to dangerous roads, increased crime, light and noise pollution and harmful environmental impacts.
Some community members weighed in at the planning commission meeting, again expressing their opposition to a truck stop and reiterating many of the concerns raised at the neighborhood meeting.
In forwarding its recommendation to supervisors, Commission Chair John Disosway said that placing truck stop in the matrix, restricting the use to general commercial zoning in growth areas and requiring applicants to obtain a CUP is the fairest path forward for all stakeholders.
“This does not approve or disapprove any application. What this does is allow the planning commission to be involved in reviewing applications to get to the best result for the applicant and the community,” Disosway said, reiterating that since a truck stop isn’t explicitly permitted in county code, the applicant’s only path forward would be to seek a special exception from the board of supervisors and that could cut the planning commission out of the process entirely.
Requiring a CUP, however, allows the commission to recommend conditions on the use and make a recommendation on whether an application is approved or denied.
Tiny homes
While the planning commission recommended holding off on adding the other 12 uses to the matrix until the Comp Plan review later this year, it’s unclear if the board will adhere to that suggestion.
At least one other use could be the subject of discussion and action during Monday’s meeting—tiny homes.
In a memo to the board, Community Development Department staff notes that though tiny homes are defined in code, they aren’t included in the matrix and thus not permitted anywhere in the county unless the board grants an applicant a special exception.
Prior to the zoning code rewrite in 2021, the Uniformed Statewide Building Code didn’t include standards for tiny homes, so county staff saw no need to include the use in the matrix.
But the building code has since been updated to include the structures and staff says the board has “an opportunity to discuss and potentially allow tiny homes in certain districts, either by-right or with a conditional use permit (CUP).”
The building code allows tiny homes provided their wheels are removed and the structure is placed on a permanent foundation. The minimum construction standards are generally the same as a single-family dwelling, per the memo, with some variation in the amount of head room required, width of hallways, stair riser and tread measurements and loft requirements. To be considered a tiny home, a dwelling must be 400 square feet or less.
If the board chooses to allow tiny homes by-right or with a CUP, all individual district requirements for lot size and setbacks would be applicable, just as with a single-family dwelling, unless specific exceptions to these requirements are adopted, the memo says.
As tiny homes have emerged as an option in the short-term rental market, staff’s memo includes information about how other counties with recreational lakes address the use.
Board to consider new limit on utility-scale solar development
Supervisors could place more restrictions on utility-scale solar development.
The board will hold a public hearing and consider adopting an amendment to the county’s solar ordinance that would reduce, from three percent to two percent, the amount of land in the county that can be used for large-scale solar generation.
The three percent cap currently in place limits large-scale solar development to 9,800 acres. The proposed cap would lower that threshold to 6,343 acres, which represents slightly less than two percent of the county’s total acreage because it excludes Lake Anna.
Supervisors have already green-lighted seven utility-scale solar facilities covering 5,211 acres. If the cap is lowered, it would mean only a few more solar facilities could be approved in the county.
The board’s solar committee, which includes Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams and Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes, recommended the amendment at supervisors’ April 8 meeting. While neither Barnes nor Adams discussed their recommendation during the meeting, the proposal comes amid growing resistance to large-scale solar development in Louisa County and across rural Virginia.
Louisa residents have repeatedly spoken out at public meetings and on social media against the use, arguing that it’s threatening the county’s rural character by turning farms and forests into vast industrial landscapes covered in glass and steel. They’ve also contended that large solar projects pose a threat to water quality and adjoining property, pointing to problems at Dominion’s 88-megawatt (MW) Belcher Solar Facility off Waldrop Church Road where stormwater runoff has caused significant erosion and flooding on neighboring farms.
The fallout from Belcher prompted the board two years ago to revise its solar ordinance. The revamped ordinance codified the three percent cap, beefed up development standards to address runoff, mandated a 300-foot buffer around utility-scale solar facilities to screen them from view and required the projects to locate no more than a mile from high-transmission power lines, among other provisions.
Since adopting the ordinance, the board hasn’t approved any large-scale solar sites, most recently rejecting a 5 MW shared solar array just outside the Town of Gordonsville.
In a presentation to the planning commission in May, Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon said that the 6,343 cap still provides space for the board to approve the three utility-scale solar projects working their way through the public approval process: the 5 MW, 60-acre Green Boot facility off Peach Grove Road; the 20 MW, 304-acre Horsepen site near Buckner; and the 15.6 MW, 247.6-acre Turkey facility off Route 15 in northwestern Louisa County.
But the cap could shut out developers who’ve been working on projects but haven’t formally applied for a conditional use permit from the county. Solar developers typically spend several years performing studies and other due diligence before moving ahead with the public approval process.
Several community members weighed in during the planning commission’s public hearing to oppose lowering the cap—a shift from the resistance to solar development typically heard at public meetings. They contended that individual solar projects should be considered on their own merits, and placing further restrictions on solar development infringes on private property rights and strips the county of a source of tax revenue.
The commission deadlocked 3-3 on whether to recommend that the board approve or reject the amendment.
Board to consider moving Louisa 1, Patrick Henry 2 polling locations
At the request of General Registrar Cris Watkins, supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider moving two of the county’s polling places to new locations ahead of the November 5 presidential election. The board will also consider removing the Louisa Arts Center as a satellite voting location.
According to the proposal, the polling place for the Louisa 1 precinct would move from the Louisa Volunteer Fire Department just down the street to New Life Community Church at 509 East Main Street in the Town of Louisa. (precinct map)
The polling place for the Patrick Henry 2 precinct would move from Standing On the Promise of God Church on Waldrop Church Road to Moss Nuckols Elementary School at 2055 Courthouse Road (Route 208).
Moss Nuckols is already the polling location for the Patrick Henry 1 precinct. If the board opts to move Patrick Henry 2 to the school, the precincts would share a polling place, but each would be staffed by a separate team of election officers and have its own voting machines.
Changes to the polling locations wouldn’t take effect until the November election. Voters casting ballots in the Democratic or Republican Primary in the 5th Congressional District on June 18 would vote at their current polling place. (Voters can also vote early at the Louisa County Office of Elections, 103 McDonald St. in the Town of Louisa, or request an absentee ballot. Click here for more information).
The board will also consider removing the Louisa Arts Center as a satellite early voting location. According to the proposed resolution, Watkins has informed the board that the facility is no longer needed.
The county used the arts center for early voting during the 2020 presidential election because the facility provided more space during a high-turn out cycle impacted by public health mandates related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Louisa County Office of Election last year moved from cramped quarters in the Louisa County Office Building to a spacious new home just across the street, providing ample room to accommodate the high volume of early voting anticipated this fall.
Board to talk affordable housing, consider road improvement projects
Aside from holding a trio of public hearings, supervisors will take up a couple other notable items. They’ll discuss affordable housing and consider authorizing staff to submit three applications for road improvements to the state’s SMART SCALE program.
Board to discuss Affordable Housing Trust Fund
At the request of Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes, the board will discuss an “Affordable Housing Trust Fund.” No additional information is included about the item in the meeting materials.
Barnes, at the board’s May 20 meeting, asked that the item be placed on the June 3 agenda. As a member of the board’s affordable housing committee, he has encouraged the county to identify ways to increase housing options for teachers, cops, firefighters and other essential workers. With the cost of buying or renting a home on the rise county-wide, Barnes has said that it’s increasingly difficult for school employees and first responders to live in Louisa.
In 2021, Barnes advocated for the county’s pursuit of a $775,000 federal grant to help address its affordable housing needs. The funding was initially earmarked for an 80-plus unit mixed income affordable housing community proposed for a county-owned parcel at Ferncliff. The county planned to partner with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville on the project but, in the face of staunch opposition from neighbors, supervisors eventually axed the idea.
The board instead allocated the grant money to the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation (FLHF) for 25 rental units its building between the towns of Louisa and Mineral. When complete, the one and two-bedroom dwellings will accommodate income-eligible elderly and disabled residents and essential workers.
Outside of securing the federal appropriation, supervisors have done little in recent years to help increase the supply of affordable housing. As part of its Fiscal Year 2025 budget, the board dedicated just $72,000 to organizations that work to address housing affordability locally—$65,000 to FLHF and $7,000 to the Piedmont Housing Alliance. Beyond funding, the board hasn’t incentivized large-scale developers to include affordable housing in their plans.
Affordable housing trust funds have gained traction in some localities as a way to chip away at the affordable housing crisis plaguing communities across the state. Henrico County recently announced that it plans to dedicate $60 million its receiving from data center development to establish a trust fund that will provide grants to nonprofit and for-profit entities to offset the cost of acquiring lots for affordable housing in developments and subdivisions, according to a county press release.
In some instances, the program will partner with land trusts to ensure housing affordability in perpetuity. Under the land trust model, the trust retains ownership of the lot, even after the home is built and sold to an eligible buyer, significantly lowering the homeowner’s monthly mortgage costs. Ownership of the lot then remains with the trust through subsequent sales.
Henrico also plans to waive water and sewer connection fees and building permit fees for homes in the program and expedite its review of proposed developments that include affordable units.
Like Henrico, Louisa could see a significant influx of tax revenue from data centers. The board of supervisors last August announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) plan to invest at least $11 billion by 2040 to develop a pair of data center campuses in the county’s Technology Overlay District.
According to Economic Development Director Andy Wade, AWS plans to build at least 17 data centers across the two campuses. Wade has said that, on average, each facility could produce just over $2 million in tax revenue annually over a 15-year timeframe.
Supervisors to consider green-lighting SMART SCALE applications
Supervisors will consider green-lighting three applications for state-funded road improvements, each of which aims to bring a roundabout to a busy and accident-prone intersection.
Pending board approval, the county will submit applications to the state’s SMART SCALE program for single-lane roundabouts at the intersection of Routes 15 and 250 at Zion Crossroads, the intersection of Routes 250 and 208 at Ferncliff and the intersection of Routes 15 and 22 at Boswells Tavern. Chuck Proctor, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Culpeper District planning manager, told the board during a work session in April that the projects could each cost $15 million.
SMART SCALE is a data-driven process that the state uses to prioritize which local transportation upgrades receive funding. Under the program’s rules, Louisa and similarly sized localities can apply for funding for up to four projects every two years with this year’s application deadline slated for August 1.
After the applications are submitted, the projects are evaluated and scored by representatives from VDOT and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The evaluation team recommends projects for approval based on their scores.
While projects are evaluated on several criteria, the most important factor for Louisa County is the potential for safety improvements (PSI). The evaluation team also considers the cost-benefit of each project.
Louisa’s projects will be scored against other projects submitted by localities in the Culpeper District. The Commonwealth Transportation Board next June will ultimately decide which projects receive funding.
“Smart Scale Round 6 uses crash data from 2018-2022.. The Louisa VDOT Residency evaluated the data and created a list of Top Potential for Safety Improvement Intersections and Segments Locations or PSI locations. The lower the PSI number the better chance an intersection has at competing for funding,” Senior Planner Tom Egeland wrote in a memo to the board.
According to VDOT data, the intersection of Routes 250 and 15 ranks 40th district-wide for PSI. Between 2018 and 2022, there were 32 crashes at the intersection. The intersection of 22 and 15 ranks 48th with 26 crashes over the same timeframe while the intersection of Routes 208 and 250 ranks 98th with 18 crashes.
The county has applied for funding for all three projects in the past but hasn’t been successful. The 250-208 project has been rejected in the last three funding cycles while the 15-250 project has been rejected in the last two.
Louisa County won’t apply for funding for the slice of roadway with its lowest PSI ranking: the intersection of Route 15 and Spring Creek and Camp Creek Parkways at Zion Crossroads. The intersection ranks 32nd in the Culpeper District with 30 crashes between 2018 and 2022.
The county applied for funding for a novel bowtie configuration at the intersection during the 2022 funding cycle. The bowtie would’ve eliminated left turns on and off Route 15 and instead routed drivers to a pair of roundabouts on parallel streets. The proposal sparked staunch opposition from many Zion Crossroads residents and didn’t impress the SMART SCALE evaluation team either. With an estimated cost of $42.5 million, the project ranked 31st out of 38 projects submitted in the district.
While the county isn’t applying to fund the bowtie this cycle, Proctor wouldn’t say that VDOT has given up on the concept, noting that the intersection presents traffic engineers with unique challenges.
“It’s got a lot of concerns especially with its close proximity to the [interstate] interchange. It makes it really difficult to put in stuff that actually will function there,” Proctor said.
Though none of Louisa’s projects scored well enough for state funding during the last SMART SCALE cycle, the county has found some success in the past. In 2016, it won approval for road realignment and turn lanes at the intersection of School Bus Road (Route 767), Chalk Level Road (Route 625), and Davis Highway (Route 22/208) between the Towns of Louisa and Mineral. Completed in 2021, the project cost about $7.5 million.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board also approved roundabouts at the intersection of Route 522 and Route 250 at Gum Spring and the intersection of 522 and 208 at Wares Crossroads. The 522/250 project, which cost $3.1 million, was completed in late 2022. The 522/208 project, estimated to cost $7.6 million, is expected to be finished by January.
Trump endorses McGuire in bitter Republican primary in 5th Congressional District
In a vicious battle for the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District, former President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed state Senator John McGuire over Congressman Bob Good, dealing a potential blow to the two-term incumbent’s hopes for reelection.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, just before 9 am, Trump touted McGuire as the right choice for the solidly conservative district, which stretches from Louisa, Albemarle and western Hanover at its northern edge to the North Carolina border.
“I just want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that can most help me do that is Navy Seal and highly respected State Legislator, John McGuire, a true American Hero,” wrote Trump, who’s poised for a rematch with President Joe Biden this fall.
Trump hailed McGuire as a fighter who took on drug cartels during his time as a Navy SEAL, and said he’d help secure the southern border and “ALWAYS PUT AMERICA FIRST.”
“I had the safest Border in history, built hundreds of miles of Wall, and then Crooked Joe Biden came along and ruined it, making it one of the worst human catastrophes ever in our Country. John and I will correct this situation, and fast,” Trump wrote. “He is strong on crime, will protect our great Military/Vets, and will always defend our under siege Second Amendment. John McGuire has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
But just as Trump praised McGuire, he chastised Good, a Republican hardliner and chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, who endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president last year before backing Trump just after DeSantis dropped out of the race.
“Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, and BAD FOR THE USA. He turned his back on our incredible movement and was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently, when he gave a warm and ‘loving’ Endorsement—But, really, it was too late,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s endorsement comes as the campaign enters its final weeks and could be a significant boost for McGuire in a race where both candidates have tried to show fealty to the former president.
An unwavering Trump cheerleader who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, McGuire is known for traveling around the district in a blue Ford pickup truck adorned with a Trump flag. He’s centered his campaign on his loyalty to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, repeatedly attacking Good for initially endorsing DeSantis by branding him as a backstabber and “Never Trumper.”
In an email to supporters Tuesday morning, McGuire reiterated that message.
“I’ve been with Trump since he came down the escalator and when I’m in Congress, I’ll back his agenda and put America First! Trump is exactly right about Bob Good. Our country is in dire peril under Biden and we need Trump to Save America. We cannot trust Bob Good,” McGuire wrote.
For his part, Good has also tried to paint himself as a strong Trump ally. Like McGuire, he visited New York City in mid-May during a weeks-long trial in which Trump was ultimately convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star. After the verdict was announced late last week, Good sent an email to supporters calling the trial a “sham” and focusing his attention on organizing for November’s election.
“Sign waving on the side of the road isn’t going to get the job done. Talking to voters and engaging them will,” Good wrote in an apparent shot at McGuire, who frequently stands at busy intersections waving at passersby.
Good has argued throughout the campaign that he, not McGuire, is the better choice for voters looking to fight the Washington establishment and advance Trump’s “America First” agenda. In a statement on Tuesday, Good eluded to the endorsement but said that he has never been the choice of “political power brokers” and believes “the people of the 5th District” will back him.
He chastised McGuire for relying on support from what he’s termed the “DC swamp,” noting that his challenger is backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Good helped oust last fall.
“My opponent does not have an America-first conservative record in the General Assembly. That is why he is supported by the RINO moderate establishment wing of the Republican Party. And it is why he is funded by allies of the former Speaker who is directing the dark super PAC money in support of his campaign,” Good wrote.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, outside groups have poured more than $6 million into the race. Nearly $3.5 million of that has funded pro-McGuire or anti-Good advocacy. About $2.5 million has been spent in support of Good or against McGuire.
Good pointed to his own endorsements from hard-right firebrands like former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida as well as conservative groups including the NRA, Gun Owners of America and Club for Growth. He also said that he has the support of grassroots Republicans across the district.
“They all know that I am the true conservative in this race who is committed to reversing the Biden agenda and putting America back on track to be great again as it was in President Trump’s first term,” Good wrote.
Good is backed by many party activists and local elected officials in the district and has won significant support in McGuire’s 10th state Senate District, which includes all or part of 10 counties at the district’s northern end including Louisa. All four Republican members of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors—Duane Adams (Mineral), Toni Williams (Jackson), Rachel Jones (Green Springs) and Chris McCotter (Cuckoo)—have endorsed Good.
McGuire represented Louisa for three terms in the House of Delegates before moving to the Senate in January. Just eight days after winning his Senate seat, he announced he’d challenge Good.
That move miffed some party insiders in the 10th, who accused McGuire of lying to voters. As evidence, they pointed to a candidate forum during his senate campaign where McGuire said he’d support Good for reelection.
The Goochland County Republican Committee—McGuire’s home county— passed a resolution of no confidence in its newly-elected senator after he announced his congressional bid.
McGuire has shrugged off the lack of support from local committees, crisscrossing the district to attend pancake breakfasts and tractor pulls and posting photos with smiling 5th District residents on his Facebook page. His campaign released an internal poll in mid-May that showed him up 14 points.
In a campaign email, Good called the the poll “phony.”
“Anyone can write push-poll questions to try to get the answers they want to fit their biased agenda, and that is what this is,” Good wrote.
The winner of the Republican primary will face one of three Democrats in November—Paul Riley, Gloria Witt or Gary Terry—in a red-leaning district that Good won by about 15 points two years ago.
Both the Republican and Democratic primaries are set for Tuesday, June 18. Early voting is underway at the Louisa County Office of Elections. (Click here for more information).
Trump campaign issues cease and desist letter to Good campaign
Trump’s campaign dealt another blow to Good on Friday in the form of a cease and desist letter demanding that the congressman’s campaign immediately stop “producing or displaying materials that falsely imply” that the former president endorses Good or is in “any way supportive of [his] campaign.”
“Producing and displaying materials that give the false impression that President Trump is supportive of your candidacy is a fraud on the voters of the 5th Congressional District. It is an abuse of the voters’ trust to make such false statements,” Trump campaign attorney David Warrington wrote.
Good has peppered Louisa County and other parts of the district with signs that include both his and Trump’s name. But the signs don’t explicitly say that Trump supports Good. Warrington’s letter includes a picture of the sign.
According to Mica Soellner of Punchbowl News, who first reported the letter, the Good campaign responded Friday evening, saying, in part, that its signs “comply with the law and contain all appropriate legal disclaimers.”
As of Sunday morning, two Trump-Good signs stood outside the Louisa County Office of Elections.
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