Herndon Election 2022: Olem Wins; Council Candidate Declines Recount

HERNDON, VA — With all the votes cast in the Nov. 8 General Election in the Town of Herndon, incumbent Mayor Sheila Olem prevailed over challengers Sean M. Regan and Jasbinder Singh.

But when the Virginia State Board of Elections publishing the final vote totals on Monday, the possibility of a recount loomed in the town council race.

In the mayor's race, Olem received 2,678 votes (40.89 percent), compared to Regan's 2,492 votes (38.05 percent) and Singh's 1,340 (20.46 percent). Olem defeated Regan by a margin of 186 votes or 2.84 percent. Since the margin of victory is greater than the 1 percent required for Regan to request a recount, Olem is the winning candidate.

On Tuesday, Patch asked each of the candidates in the mayor's race for a comment.

"I want to thank the people of Herndon for their support in this year's election, and for their support and feedback over my ten years on Planning Commission and Town Council," Regan said. "I have faith in the incoming Council to listen to residents and do what is best for the Town. Herndon is a wonderful place, and it will always be special to me and my family."

"I’m disappointed that I did not win, but I’m very grateful for the response of the voters to my message of Government Transparency," Singh said, on Wednesday. "Hopefully this message will endure and lead to many positive changes in our community. I will contribute in any way I can."

Mayor

*Incumbent

In the town council race, Clark A. Hedrick came out on top with 3,508 (12.16%). Traditionally, the candidate with the most votes will assume the role of vice mayor when the new council is seated in January.

Filling the five remaining seats on the new council are currently Pradip Dhakal, Keven J. Leblanc Jr., Naila Alam, Cesar A. Del Aguila, and Donielle M. Scherff, but that could change.

Scherff, who received 3,096 votes (10.73 percent), edged out Stevan M. Porter, who had 2,977 votes (10.32 percent). Only 119 votes (0.41 percent) separates the two candidates.

In Virginia, the apparent losing candidate is allowed to request a recount if there is less than a 1 percent difference in the vote counts between the winning and losing candidates. If the difference is between 0.5 percent and 1 percent, the candidate must pay for the recount. But, if it's less than 0.05 percent, the locality is required to pay for the recount.

In other words, Porter could request a recount and Fairfax County, which runs the town's elections, would have to pay for it. A candidate has just 10 days after the votes have been certified to file a request in the Fairfax County Circuit Court.

Porter told Patch on Tuesday he would not be filing for a recount.

"I did a review of the numbers and also spoke with the contacts at the Fairfax County Board of Elections just to verify ballot failure rates and stuff like that," he said. "As far as I can tell, the Fairfax County Board of Elections has done an outstanding job trying to make sure everything was done correctly."

Looking at the performance rates across the different types of ballots, Porter determined that there was no reasonable way for him to pick up the roughly 120 votes he'd need to win.

"I'm not going to waste the board's time or taxpayers' money on that," he said. "This election, typically, is a very close election. Frequently, the various seats are determined by less than 100 votes."

Porter said that he's not going anywhere. He plans to continue attending town council meetings and keeping the public informed about what's going on in Herndon.

"I look forward to enthusiastically serving the community of Herndon, Virginia in my capacity as a council member," Scherff said, on Tuesday. "As I'm sure my closest opponent would agree, all of those who ran will continue to be active members of the Herndon community as neighbors and advocates for the causes and issues most important to us, regardless of the certified tally."

Herndon Town Council (Pick 6)

** Winners