BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
Culpeper's ex-mayor and a former councilman's wife will be challenging four incumbents in Tuesday's at-large Town Council election.
Former Mayor Pranas Rimeikis, who was defeated by Mayor Chip Coleman in 2010, is making a bid to get back into local politics by ousting one of four incumbents--Dave Lochridge, Mike Olinger, Frank Reaves and Bobby Ryan--on the ballot.
Rimeikis, 59, has never served as a councilman, only eight years as mayor.
While she will not be on the ballot, Martha Snider, wife of former Councilman Chris Snider, is running as a write-in candidate for one of the four at-large seats on the ballot.
Snider said that her husband was preparing to file to run again when he got a new job. When he gave up the idea of running, she decided to enter the race.
Ryan, a Culpeper native, was first elected to the Town Council in 1994. In 1998, he and another candidate finished in a tie for the last available spot, so the two names were placed in a trash can and one was drawn. It was Ryan's.
Olinger is seeking his third four-year term on the council, while Lochridge and Reaves are seeking second terms.
In Orange, only one candidate--retired Locust Grove Middle School Principal Martha Roby--filed to be on the ballot to fill two Town Council seats. Former Councilman Rick Sherman has announced that he is running as a write-in candidate.
The polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com