Election Guide 2025: Fredericksburg
Races in the city for Council continue to reflect the change in culture that the city has been undergoing, making for potentially dynamic races. School Board races are largely uncontested.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Updated June 24, 2025
Overview | Key Dates | City Council Race | School Board Race | Other Fredericksburg Races | House of Delegates Race | Demographics | Voter Information
In the event of errors or omissions, please send a note to the editor.
Key Dates
Election Day
November 4, 2025
Voter Information
The go-to guide for any questions related to elections and voting in Spotsylvania County is the Fredericksburg Office of Voter Registration and Elections.
To register to vote, update your current Virginia voter registration, apply to vote absentee by mail, or view your polling place, election district, absentee ballot status, and voting history, visit the Virginia Department of Elections.
Certified Candidates
The following candidates have been certified for the November election
City Council
The following seats are not up for election this cycle:
Mayor — Kerry Devine
At-Large — Will Mackintosh
At-Large — Jannan Holmes
The City Council elections this November feature competitive races in all four wards, and promise to deliver at least two new faces on the Council. Both Jason Graham (Ward 1) and Jon Gerlack (Ward 2) chose not to seek re-election.
In Ward 1, three individuals will compete. Matt Rowe is leaving the School Board to pursue this Council seat. He will face political newcomers David Cropper and Kenneth Gantt. VPAP reports that Rowe has $5,350 for the campaign, and Cropper has raised $1,934. Gantt has yet to raise any funds according to VPAP.
Ward 2 will feature local chef Joy Crump squaring off against Anne Little, best known for her work with Tree Fredericksburg. Currently, according to VPAP, Crump, with $8,281, holds a decisive fundraising edge over Little, who has $500.
Ward 3 has Susanna Finn, who was appointed to the Council in January following Tim Duffy’s resignation in December, will run again Matt Kelly. Kelly has previously served multiple terms on Council, but lost his most-recent re-election bid as an at-large candidate.
Finally, in Ward 4, incumbent Charlie Frye faces off against a newcomer, Jesse Dominguez.
School Board
The following seats are not up for election this cycle:
At-Large — Jarvis Bailey
At-Large — Molly McFadden
The race for School Board is surprising in that only one of four races is competitive. That will be in Ward 3, where former James Monroe teacher Annie Langdon will face Sarah Stelmok.
Incumbents Malvina Kay (Ward 4) and Katie Pomeroy (Ward 2) are running unopposed. In Ward 1, vacated by Matt Rowe who is running for City Council, only Andrew Wolfenbarger stepped up to run for the vacant seat.
Other Local Fredericksburg Races
Commonwealths attorney and sheriff are both up for election; currently, there is only one certified candidate running for each.
Treasurer is also up for election. There are no certified candidates, but Marion Bowman is expected to be on the ballot.
House of Delegates Race
There is one House of Delegates race in Fredericksburg—HD 65. It will feature a match up between the incumbent, Josh Cole (D) and Sean Steinway (R).
According to VPAP, Steinway has $38,299 on-hand. Cole has $161,253 on-hand.
The district has a strong Democratic lean, with every federal election since 2016, save one, being carried by a Democrat. Cole won the seat by a relatively comfortable six-point margin in 2023 on Republican Lee Peters. However, the seat may become competitive, as previous elections have shown neither Republicans or Democrats being able to hold it for long periods..
Cole ran for HD 28 in 2017 and lost by less than 100 votes. In 2019 he won the HD 28 over Republican Paul Milde by just over 1,000 votes.
In 2021, Cole lost his seat (redistricted as HD 65) to Tara Durant by about 600 votes.
Donald Trump’s policies that have cut federal jobs, threatened school districts with cuts, and is currently threatening to gut Medicaid and the food security network are sure to be front-and-center in this race.
The Advance will be watching this House Race, along with others in the area, to gain a sense of whether these policies are hurting Republicans — and could potentially cost them control of the House and Senate in 2026 — are playing well with voters.
Demographics
Fredericksburg’s demographics are changing. Following significant population increases in 2010 and 2011, growth has fluctuated—sometimes significantly.
Fredericksburg is a majority white city. Growth is fueled by its white, Black, and Hispanic populations. From 2010-2022, the white population has grown 9.5%, the Black population has grown 22.5%, and the Hispanic population has grown 34.9%.
Income inequality in Fredericksburg has improved in recent years; however, it remains significantly higher than in surrounding counties, which are seeing income inequality rise. (See Spotsylvania and Stafford Election Guides.) The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis measures income inequality by defining the ratio of the mean income for the highest quintile (top 20 percent) of earners divided by the mean income of the lowest quintile (bottom 20 percent) of earners.
The severity of income inequality in Fredericksburg is most evident in the city’s large ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population. According to United for Alice, the percentage of households living below the ALICE threshold in Fredericksburg was 45% in 2022, the last year for which data is available. That’s down from 2019, when the percentage of households living below the ALICE threshold was 52.6%.
Fredericksburg’s population skews young. This is due in large measure to the students attending the University of Mary Washington.
Voter Information
The go-to guide for any questions related to elections and voting in Spotsylvania County is the Spotsylvania Office of Elections.
To register to vote, update your current Virginia voter registration, apply to vote absentee by mail, or view your polling place, election district, absentee ballot status, and voting history, visit the Virginia Department of Elections.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
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