Southall not seeking re-election

Published 10:47 am Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Gene A. Southall will not be pursuing re-election this year as the Farmville 101 District supervisor.

Southall has held the seat since May 2018.

Explaining his decision not to run for re-election, he said, “One reason is I just felt that maybe somebody else could come in and do a better job, and the reason I ran was because Mr. Howard Simpson passed away.”

Email newsletter signup

The Farmville 101 District seat was previously held by Simpson, who had served on the board for 27 years. He died Feb. 13, 2018.

The board opted not to appoint someone to fill the vacancy within 45 days of the seat becoming vacant, leaving it to judges of the Prince Edward County Circuit Court to seek and appoint someone to fill the seat until a special election could be held for it in November 2018.

Southall applied to fill the seat, was appointed and later won the special election to stay on as the supervisor through the remainder of the term, which expires Dec. 31, 2019.

“I did run last fall, but I decided not to (this year),” he said. “I think we’ve got a good board. Each one of them is concerned about the county, what they can do best and to keep taxes down as much as possible. And I think Beverly Booth, who is going to be the next board member, I think she’ll be great.”

Booth, who is stepping down as Prince Edward County’s commissioner of revenue, is running unopposed for the Farmville 101 District supervisor seat.

In conclusion, Southall said, “So other than that, I don’t have any real reason except I was the sheriff for 24 years and then served on the board a little while, and I reckon that’s enough.”

Southall retired as the Prince Edward County sheriff in 2000.

As cited in his 2018 candidacy announcement, during his tenure as sheriff, he oversaw the Prince Edward County jail until the opening of the Piedmont Regional Jail, and he developed the Neighborhood Watch Program to promote the safety of the county’s citizens.

The announcement also noted that before his service as sheriff, he served eight years as a member of what was then known as the Longwood College Campus Police.