Waynesboro elections: Anderson, Short, Allen, Laurenzo roll to victories

Elzena Anderson made history Tuesday night. Anderson, 31, became the second African-American elected to Waynesboro City Council.

Anderson, the assistant director at the Waynesboro Public Library, won election to the Ward A seat on City Council in Tuesday’s city elections, defeating retired businessman Sonny Smith.

Anderson received 63.3 percent of the vote in the two-way race.

Waynesboro Planning Commission member Terry Short won election to the At Large seat on the five-member City Council, defeating two-term former City Councilwoman Nancy Dowdy.

Short, a district planning manager at in the Staunton District office of the Virginia Department of Transportation, received 68.6 percent of the vote in the race.

Mayor Bruce Allen won a third term on the City Council in the race in Ward B, defeating Jerry Campbell.

The race was a bit tighter than expected, with Allen polling 57.7 percent of the vote.

Incumbent At Large School Board member Shelly Laurenzo won re-election by defeating challenger Alex Stevens.

Laurenzo’s win over Stevens, the son-in-law of retiring former mayor Frank Lucente, was a bit of a surprise, particularly in the margin, with Laurenzo receiving 57.5 percent of the vote.

Turnout was light, with less than 2,300 votes cast in a city with a registered voter base of 12,547, translating to 18.3 percent of the voter base going out to the polls.