Former Staunton City Council member Erik Curren confirmed today in a Facebook post that he will be running for one of the open seats on the City Council in November.
“It’s official. I submitted my paperwork yesterday to run for Staunton City Council. This morning, the Registrar of Voters confirmed that my name will be on the ballot in the election this coming November,” Curren posted on the social media site.
Curren, an author and clean energy activist, served two terms on City Council, from 2012-2020, before he was swept out in the 2020 wave that saw Staunton replace its majority-progressive leadership with a group of four Republicans.
It’s been a wild ride since. The new majority pushed out the city manager, Steve Rosenberg, in January, and has yet to hire a permanent replacement.
The new majority has also upped the stakes in the city’s protracted political battle with Augusta County over the future of the Augusta County Courthouse.
And then there was the fight over school funding this spring, and an odd back and forth over the creation of an equity and diversity commission.
I’m leaving a lot out, but you get the point.
The seats of the Republicans won’t be up in the 2022 election cycle.
Staunton elects all of its City Council members at-large.
Story by Chris Graham