BLACKSBURG, Va. – The race for Blacksburg mayor is still too close to call, with just 46 votes separating the two leading candidates, election officials said Thursday. Thousands of ballots are still being reviewed before a winner can be declared.
Small business owner Peter Macedo and Blacksburg Vice Mayor Michael Sutphin are both running as independents for Blacksburg Mayor. Macedo currently leads the race, but it is still too close to call.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be a landslide one way or the other,” Macedo said.
Macedo said the close race is historic. “The most important thing to me is that everyone has a choice. It’s been since 1943 that we have had someone who was not on city council be elected to mayor. The fact that we’ve gotten this close, it’s amazing, I mean that’s a win right there.”
Sutphin released a public statement thanking supporters and congratulating other candidates who won. “I’m deeply grateful to everyone who supported this campaign, including those who volunteered, donated, put up a sign, or encouraged their friends and family to vote. I also want to congratulate incumbents Susan Anderson and Lauren Colliver, as well as newcomer Darryl Campbell, on their victories last night. Blacksburg is fortunate to have such dedicated people stepping up to serve. Thank you for your patience as we wait for every vote to be counted.” Read the full statement here.
More than 2,000 provisional ballots remain under review in Montgomery County, and these could easily decide the outcome given the narrow margin. Officials are also reviewing mail-in ballots and conducting a duplicate vote report to ensure no one voted twice.
Macedo expressed confidence in the process. “They put their heart and soul into this. We’ve got tons of people that are working so hard, you got 2,028 provisional ballots that went in. I think that’s amazing that we’ve got enough people excited enough to vote where they live. I have every confidence that they’re going to do a great job with it. I know it’s complicated and I don’t want to bug them, and give them the space to do their work.”
The Montgomery County Electoral Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday to decide which provisional ballots will count. However, it is not guaranteed that a winner will be known by then.