BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

Martha Snider said her husband, Chris, was shocked when she told him she was thinking about running for Culpeper's Town Council.

"I about had to pick him up off the floor," she jokee. "He had no idea I had that on my mind."

Chris Snider is a former member of the council who was forced to resign several years ago because he took a new job that prohibited him from serving.

This year, with that job long gone, he decided to run again.

"He had his paperwork all in order and then, at the last minute, he was offered a position with [Rep. Eric] Cantor's office," Martha Snider explained.

Suddenly, Chris was out of the race. That's when Martha started thinking about jumping in.

By that time, however, it was too late to file to get on the May 1 ballot. So, after talking it over with her husband, Martha Snider decided to start a write-in campaign.

"I really felt there needed to be a different perspective to the council," she said. "I think [the all-male council] needs a woman's perspective."

Now the 51-year-old Chamber of Commerce membership coordinator is the sixth candidate in next month's at-large municipal election. She will battle four incumbents--Frank Reaves, Bobby Ryan, Mike Olinger and Dave Lochridge--and former mayor Pranas Rimeikis for the four seats on the ballot.

She knows she is fighting an uphill battle as a write-in candidate, but she is ready to take on all comers.

"There are some issues I feel strongly about," Snider said, among them tourism, police safety and getting a YMCA built in Culpeper.

"I feel led to do this," she added.

Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com