Loudoun Prosecutor Race: Ballots To Be Counted Monday

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Provisional, mail-in, and dropped off ballots will be counted on Monday afternoon in the race for Loudoun County's Commonwealth's Attorney. To this point, the race has been too close to call.

On Monday morning, 1,021 votes separated incumbent Democrat Buta Biberaj and Republican challenger Bob Anderson. The unofficial results showed Anderson in the lead.

"The right to vote is the most basic right in a democracy,” Biberaj said in a news release on Monday. “Today’s ballot count should uphold the principle that every vote counts, and that Loudoun County respects the votes of the 137,000 people who came to the polls this year. More than 2,800 ballots are expected to be counted today. We look forward to the next step in the democratic process, and to ensure that every vote is counted.”

On Tuesday, Anderson took to social media to claim victory in the race. Biberaj has still not conceded.

"The people of Loudon County have spoken and tonight they’ve chosen Bob Anderson as their next Commonwealth’s Attorney," Anderson wrote on Tuesday. "There is no current path to victory for Buta Biberaj, and we look forward to waiting for the due process to run course. I am confident the results will remain the same, and look forward to serving as your next Commonwealth’s Attorney."

Before the election on Nov. 7, Patch sent a questionnaire to Biberaj and Anderson so the candidates could outline their platforms. Anderson did not submit responses.

On social media, Anderson noted that the county needed a change. Anderson highlighted concerns about what he considered dropped cases and lenient charges.

"I am a visionary. I see the needs of our community to be both safety and justice," Biberaj said in a Patch questionnaire. "My focus is to prevent crime (through education), protect our community (through services), and focus prosecutions on violent offenses so that victims are not retraumatized by the process."