Shaffer unseats Heaton

The Republican mayor of Lynchburg, Jeremy Shaffer, has unseated incumbent Democrat Gary Heaton on the High land County Board of Commissioners. 

According to unofficial results from the Highland County Board of Elections, Shaffer received 6,113 votes and Heaton received 5,696 votes during Tuesday's general election. 

With Shaffer's election, the three-seat board of commissioners is an entirely Republican body, as Shaffer joins fellow GOP members Shane Wilkin and Tom Horst. 

"It has been nerve-wracking all day. I didn't know what to expect," Shaffer told The Highland County Press. "I thank everybody who got out and voted. I thank all my friends and family who supported me, and it's going to be time to get to work very soon. Just because we won, it's a victory, but it's a small victory because now we're going to have to get to work and make some changes."

Heaton said that the election results were "a disappointment," but that Shaffer ran a good race.

"Jeremy made me work hard this year," Heaton said. "I think that's one thing public officials sometimes lose sight of, getting out there and talking to the people. You get busy with things in the office, but come election time it kind of forces you to get out there, and getting out there and talking to the people is a good thing."

Heaton said that he is proud of the job he did during his four years in office, which included what he called "making the tough decisions" following DHL shutting down domestic operations and eliminating thousands of area jobs at the Wilmington Air Park. Heaton said that the county budget was reduced by millions of dollars, and tough cuts, including personnel, had to be made.

"I knew probably the thing that would work against me was being a Democrat and an incumbent in kind of an anti incumbent and anti Democrat atmosphere that is going around," Heaton said. "That being said, the people of Highland County have been very good to me. It has been a pleasure and honor to have represented them these past four years. We're in a lot better position now than we were even a year ago. There were some things we couldn't even have considered doing because of our budget constraints, whereas going into next year I think Jeremy is going to find that financially we are in a pretty good shape because of the fiscal policies we put into effect."

Heaton said that at this time, he does not see himself running for commissioner again, saying that he would not want to run against Wilkin or Horst next year.

"I have gotten to known Tom and Shane and I consider them friends," Heaton said. "I think the job that they are doing is the job that I did, that we did together. I wouldn't see any reason for me to run against them."

Shaffer said that he felt that between he and Heaton, voters had good candidates to choose from.  

"Gary ran a great race," Shaffer said. "We both went out there and worked hard, and that's what it's all about. I think the voters had two really good choices, and it was a tight race, a close race." 

Shaffer said that when he takes the office of commissioner, the president of the Lynchburg Village Council will assume the role as mayor, which is a non-partisan seat. That will then leave an open council seat to be filled, he said. 

"When I take office, it's about jobs still," Shaffer said. "The first thing we're going to have to do is hit the ground running with where the budget is at. Between now and (when he takes office in January) I'm going to get those numbers and work with them beforehand. Like I said in my campaign, we're just going to have to get out and promote Highland County and do what we can do to get people in here to put people to work."