Schmitt wins Republican nomination for Brookland seat

Henrico Republicans today selected Dan Schmitt as their nominee for the Brookland District seat on the county's Board of Supervisors. Schmitt, the president of RMC Events, defeated Brookland District School Board member Bev Cocke in an unassembled canvass at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen.

Schmitt will face Democratic nominee Danny Plaugher in a Nov. 6 special election for the right to fill the final year of a four-year term originally held by Dick Glover and later by Courtney Lynch.

Schmitt, who also serves as the president of the Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association, appeared to be the choice of the party's establishment side, earning the endorsements of current Republican supervisors Tommy Branin (Three Chopt) and Pat O'Bannon (Tuckahoe) as well as that of Republican Sheriff Mike Wade and Joan Glover, the wife of late Brookland Supervisor Dick Glover, who held the seat for 30 years until his death in early 2017.

Lynch, a Democrat, won a special election last November to claim the seat but resigned after just eight months on the job, following a tumultuous stint and disagreements with other supervisors and county officials about the course the board should chart.

Cocke is in her second term and seventh year on the Henrico School Board. She has served on a number of county committees and is a longtime community and school volunteer who also served as the Henrico Christmas Mother in 2015. She is employed as a business development manager by T3 Media, LLC, the parent company of the Henrico Citizen.

Republicans chose to hold an unassembled canvass, during which voters could cast their ballots between noon and 7 p.m.

Democrats selected Plaugher over Justin House during an assembled caucus – during which all voters cast their ballots at the same time – Aug. 11, also at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen.

Independent candidates still may file to run in the Nov. 6 election.