Buchanan County Democrats claimed three constitutional offices and five seats on the Board of Supervisors at the polls on November 6, 2007. Beverly Tiller, Bill Keene, and Jay Rife easily won Circuit Court Clerk, Treasurer, and Commissioner of Revenue respectively. The Democratic majority elected to the Board of Supervisors included Berlin Viars (Garden District), Carroll Branham (North Grundy), Steve O’Quinn (Prater District), Frankie Landreth (Rocklick District), and William P. Harris (Hurricane District).

Buchanan County Democrats also celebrated the fact that the Virginia Senate is now back in the control of Democrats. With Democrats in control of the Virginia Senate, our own Senator Puckett is expected to assume a significant leadership role which can only benefit our county.

The loss of Commonwealth Attorney and Sheriff tempered the celebration on election night. A Republican and independent challenged Sheila Tolliver to her fourth term as Commonwealth Attorney. Randy Ashby fell short of his attempt to unseat the incumbent Republican Sheriff. Like the race for Commonwealth Attorney, Ashby also faced an independent in addition to the Republican candidate. As we often see, the presence of independents hurts our candidates and divides our party. Of course, when the independent is a former Democrat, the idea is to scuttle the battleship when victory is obviously out of reach. Both Tolliver and Ashby have been public servants for more than twenty years. Our party wishes Tolliver and Ashby the best with their future endeavors.