Wheeler, Scoggins announce bids for Chairman as Stewart leans closer to the door

WOODBRIDGE — The candidates are lining up to be the next Prince William County At-large Supervisor.

Ann Wheeler, a Democrat, and Don Scoggins, an independent, followed Republican Marty Nohe in announcing he would seek the Chairman seat held for the past 12 years by Corey Stewart.

Stewart, who this month lost his bid to become the next Virginia Senator, says he’s leaning against running for reelection next year. Stewart has been campaigning for office for the past four years after winning his current seat in 2015 and then going on to lead unsuccessful campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate.

Stewart said he needs to focus on his family and his law practice in the coming years. He didn’t say when he would make an official announcement that he would not seek the Chairman’s seat in 2019. His current term ends December 31, 2019.

Wheeler has lived in Haymarket since 2001 and has served on the NOVEC Board of Directors for the past 14 years. She’s also served on the Hylton Performing Arts Center Board of Directors and had a leadership role in the Prince William Committee of 100.

Wheeler blames Prince William’s overcrowded classrooms — the most crowded in the Washington, D.C. region — on Stewart, and says the county is headed in a new direction.

“I will ensure our school system is adequately funded. The number of schools has not kept up with development,” Wheeler states in a press release. “We have the largest class sizes in the state and the lowest paid teachers in the region. The Board of County Supervisors controls the funding for our schools, and they have woefully underfunded them.”

County voters in recent years have trended toward electing Democrats. In the Senate race earlier this month, Stewart lost Prince William County voters to Tim Kaine by 32 percent.

And, while she lost to incumbent Rob Wittman, Vangie Williams mounted a successful showing in Prince William in her bid for Virginia’s House of Representatives 1st District seat, beating Wittman by nearly 14 points.

It’s hard to say how an independent candidate would fare in the county’s political climate today, where an organized ground game and their ability to knock on doors and connect with residents routinely pays off.

That candidate, Scoggins is not an unknown, having ran in a 2015 Primary Election against current sitting Occoquan District Supervisor Ruth Anderson. He’s a retired U.S. Army Reserves Officer who served in Vietnam and later worked for 20 years in the Federal Government.

In a press release, Scoggins states, “There are five key governing components Scoggins plans to strongly advocate for improvement: Economic Development, education, transportation, social services, and county governance. These are crucial priorities for the future of Prince William County and this region of Northern Virginia as a whole.”

Voters will head to the polls on Nov. 5, 2019.