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The voting lasted more than six hours and stretched through three rounds into early Saturday morning. In the end, it was Prince Edward resident and YakAttack owner Luther Cifers outlasting the other six candidates to become the Republican nominee for the 10th District State Senate seat. 

Cifers had won people over, both at the 10th District debate back in late November and again on the stage Friday, by being what few others on the stage could claim: a political newcomer. In both cases, The Herald heard from Republicans who brought up that Cifers “didn’t talk like a politician”. Several on Friday also applauded the fact he lacked any kind of experience in Richmond. 

That’s something multiple other candidates pushed to highlight, from former State Senator Amanda Chase to Chase’s former staffer and U.S. veteran Shayne Snavely, current Louisa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Duane Adams and Gannon Appraisals owner Jean Gannon. All of them, when given time to speak Friday, focused in some form on how much time they’ve spent in Richmond and their experience working with the General Assembly. But the majority of the 1,035 Republicans gathered at the Goochland Sports Complex didn’t want to hear about that. They seemed to be more interested in the point Cifers raised in his own speech. 

“I’d like to remind you,” Cifers said, “political experience got us Joe Biden. Real world experience got us Donald Trump.” 

In his speech Friday, Cifers painted himself in the same vein. He too is a business owner, wanting to bring that same real world experience to Richmond. And at the same time, he still finds it weird to talk about himself so much. 

Taking it in and making decisions 

Republicans in the mass meeting heard all that and took it in. While Amanda Chase talked about the 2020 election, Cifers spoke about how too much development was taking land from farmers. Jean Gannon talked about her long record of talking with Richmond lawmakers, while Cifers brought up the challenges rural areas like the 10th face when dealing with solar. Recent University of Richmond graduate Alex Cheatham told the crowd how he’d like to just tell Democrats they have terrible ideas, while Cifers brought up issues with data centers. 

“Cifers, he made some great sense,” said Shelby Chandler. The longtime Republican from Louisa had come to Friday’s vote in support of Jean Gannon, but walked away impressed by Cifers. “The fact is if you didn’t have him as your first candidate, you had him as your second.”

All total, seven candidates competed for the position Friday night. In addition to the ones previously mentioned, current Cumberland County supervisor Bryan Hamlett also took part. He, Snavely and Cheatham were eliminated in the first round of voting. Hamlett then turned around and endorsed Cifers, with Cumberland supporting Prince Edward. 

The goal was 518

As this was a mass meeting, the goal was to get at least 518 votes. That’s 50% of 1035 plus 1. That didn’t happen in the first round. Duane Adams finished first with 395 votes, Cifers was second with 190, Chase came in third with 171 and Gannon ended up with 124. Before second round voting started, Gannon took herself out of the race, instead endorsing Adams. In a bizarre situation, people claiming to be Gannon’s supporters suddenly started passing out “Jean Gannon endorses Duane Adams for Senate” flyers. The Herald’s copy appeared to have been made some time ago and at the bottom of the flyer, it said “paid for by Duane Adams for Senate.” 

With the new endorsement in place, attendees were encouraged to vote for one of the final three. In that second vote, Cifers took the lead but didn’t have the majority needed to win. Adams was in second and Chase was eliminated, having finished third. Refusing to support Adams, who had criticized her during the campaign, Chase’s votes instead went to Cifers.  That, combined with his other support, helped Cifers pick up the necessary votes to win in the third vote. 

Those who stayed after casting their final vote chanted Cifers’ name and applauded after he was announced as the winner. 

“The people are supposed to be in charge, so let’s get busy,” he told the remaining audience. 

Now Cifers will take on the Democrat nominee, Jack Trammell, in a special election scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 7. 

Who is Luther Cifers? 

And if you’re just joining us for the first time and don’t know who the new Republican nominee is, here’s a refresher. Cifers is a Prince Edward County resident and owns YakAttack, an industry leader in kayak fishing accessories, which he created in 2009 in a friend’s basement. Under Cifers’ leadership, YakAttack grew into an industry heavyweight with more than 60 employees. 

Born in 1974 in a farm community in Amelia County, Cifers was homeschooled from the third grade on. He grew up working on the farms of his family and neighbors, then later in his father’s business. He started his manufacturing career with an entry level job working for an  automotive supplier in Farmville back in 1993, where he quickly rose through the ranks, developing strong  skills in design, engineering, and leadership. Cifers has also owned and operated Bonafide  Kayaks, an industry leader of premium fishing kayaks, MITUSA Manufacturing, a developer of tactical  products, and a number of other small businesses, creating more than 100 jobs in the process for the Farmville area.