Former Charlottesville Mayor and City Council member David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) won the Virginia State Delegate seat for the 57th District, which represents the City of Charlottesville. Current Virginia State Delegate Robert Bell (R-Charlottesville) retained his delegate seat in the 58th District.
Toscano beat out Tom McCrystal (R-Charlottesville) by a large margin, 75 to 25 percent.
"Boy, it really feels great," Toscano said. "It's just wonderful that so many people would be willing to come out and support the campaign."
Bell will remain the state representative for the 58th district, which includes parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Green and Orange Counties. Bell defeated Republican candidate Steven Koleszar with 62 percent of the vote.
"This is Thomas Jefferson's seat, so it's an honor to just hold it," Bell said. "My constituents expect a high level of hard work and diligence with regard to constituent work and getting bills passed."
A self-proclaimed "freshman" in state politics, Toscano said he will take the time to get used to the delegate position itself and will continue to focus on education, environmental issues and expanding economic opportunities.
"Where I see bills that will move those [initiatives] forward, I'll offer them," he said.
Toscano succeeds Mitch Van Yahres (D-Charlottesville) as the General Assembly representative for the City of Charlottesville. Toscano said he will continue to work with Van Yahres.
"They're big shoes to fill, but [Van Yahres] will be very helpful as I prepare to go down to Richmond," he said. "And I'm sure my constituents will do a good job as well."
Toscano is a lawyer and a former sociology professor at James Madison University. A veteran in Charlottesville politics, he served as mayor from 1994 to 1996 and as a city councilor for 12 years, until 2002. He also ran for Congress, though unsuccessfully, in 1982, as a Citizen's Party candidate.
"I've always been fairly good at bringing people together to solve problems," said Toscano. "I hope I can apply those skills in Richmond to build alliances with other legislators to get things done."
Bell said he hopes to fix the sex offender registry and to draft bills to prevent governments from seizing private property without just cause.
A graduate of the University and the University Law School, Bell currently is a lawyer in Charlottesville. He has been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since he was first elected to the seat in 2001.
"I think you get better at just focusing on the legislation you can accomplish instead of worrying about things that are out of your control," Bell said. "I'm a better legislator now than I was four years ago."
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