Election Guide 2025: Fredericksburg
Races in the city for local offices continue to reflect the change in culture that the city has been undergoing, making for a potentially dynamic election season.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Updated June 10, 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
Primary
June 17, 2025
Election Day
November 4, 2025
Certificate of Candidate Qualifications
Deadline to file is 5 p.m. April 3, 2025, for primary candidates for local offices
Deadline to file is 7 p.m. June 17, 2025, for nonprimary party and independent candidates
For more detailed information
Virginia Department of Elections’ How to Run for a Local Office
Office of Elections
As of June 10, 2025, the following candidates have been certified for the November election
A week away from the filing deadline, and the races for City Council and School Board are taking shape.
City Council
The following seats are not up for election this cycle:
Mayor — Kerry Devine
At-Large — Will Mackintosh
At-Large — Jannan Holmes
As of June 10, Ward 1 and Ward 3 are the only races where more than one candidate has been certified for the November ballot.
The Ward 1 race has no incumbent, as Jason Graham is stepping away. Three candidates are officially on the ballot. Matt Rowe is leaving his school board seat to seek a seat on council. David Cropper, a Fredericksburg native, is looking to break into politics; so, too, is Kenneth Gantt. How competitive this race becomes will depend in large measure on how people feel about the current Council. Rowe has the political pedigree, while Cropper and Gantt are the “outsiders” who are looking to help set a new direction for the city’s future.
The Ward 3 battle features an intriguing matchup between Susanna Finn, who previously served on the Planning Commission and was appointed to fill Tim Duffy’s seat when he retired suddenly in December. Running against her is Matt Kelly, who has spent the better part of two decades on Council before being voted out in a 3-way race for two at-large seats. Jannan Holmes and Will Mackintosh gathered the most votes.
Anne Little and Christian Zammas are expected to be on the ballot for Ward 2 to run against political newcomer Joy Crump.
School Board
The following seats are not up for election this cycle:
At-Large — Jarvis Bailey
At-Large — Molly McFadden
The School Board race remains murky at this point.
Currently there is no certified candidate in Ward 4, long held by Malvina Rollins, sister of school superintendent Marci Catlett.
In Ward 2, current member Katie Pomeroy is on the ballot for a second term.
Ward 3 currently has Annie Langdon as the only certified candidate. Langdon is a graduate of James Monroe High School and a longtime math teacher at JM. She left that position at the end of the current school year.
Andrew Wolfenberger will be running in Ward 1.
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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