Lara Shepherd has won the fifth and final seat on the Washington County Board of County Commissioners, defeating board president John Barr by 335 votes in complete but unofficial results. Her victory breaks a run of all-Republican representation on the five-seat board that stretched back to the 2010 election.
The outcome capped a dramatic swing in vote counting. According to heraldmailmedia.com, Shepherd received 21,202 votes to Barr's 20,867 once all ballots were tallied. An earlier unofficial count, reported by localnews1.org, had actually shown Shepherd trailing Barr by 855 votes and finishing sixth overall, before provisional ballots were factored in.
That earlier snapshot, cited by Tri-State Alert, had Barr holding the fifth spot in early returns. Per the Herald-Mail Media report, Shepherd retook the lead after provisional and mail-in ballots were counted Thursday, and her advantage widened Friday, flipping the outcome of the race entirely.
A Board President Unseated
Barr's loss is notable given his standing on the board. The Herald-Mail Media reporting notes that Barr had served four nonconsecutive terms on the county board and was its current president, having first served from 2006 to 2018 before returning in 2022 as the race's top vote-getter, according to the same outlet. Washington County's commissioners have historically approved the top vote-getter as board president, per Tri-State Alert, meaning Barr's role atop the board followed that pattern after his 2022 return.
In a written statement reported by Tri-State Alert, Barr congratulated the incoming board and said he wished the newly elected commissioners well, trusting they would serve citizens with compassion and integrity. Eighteen candidates had been vying for the five at-large seats, according to heraldmailmedia.com, with the five highest vote-getters winning four-year terms, as localnews1.org has reported.
First Democrat Since 2010
Shepherd's win marks the first time a Democrat has held a seat on the five-member board since the 2010 election, according to the same Herald-Mail Media report. The county had been represented by an all-Republican Board of Commissioners for that entire span, as Conduit Street has noted.
The incoming board includes two returning incumbents alongside three new members, Tri-State Alert reports: Shepherd and fellow newcomer Dan Young join a board that will also include Jeff Cline, who has served 16 years on the board, and two other seated commissioners. Charlie Burkett, who was elected to the Washington County Board of Education in 2024 and has served there for roughly 18 months after a 2021 appointment, will give up his school board seat to join the commissioners, according to Tri-State Alert. Randy Leatherman has served about 18 months since his appointment in April 2025, per the same reporting.
Incoming Commissioners React
Young, newly elected to the board, thanked his wife, children and friends for their support during the campaign and said he was delighted by voters' confidence in him, according to Tri-State Alert. He said the mix of incumbents and new members leaves the board well positioned to benefit from incumbents' knowledge and experience, and said he would work with the board to meet community needs and provide service to citizens and visitors.
Cline, for his part, named public safety, infrastructure, education and economic development as priorities, Tri-State Alert reports. He said the board would focus on working together and moving Washington County into the future, with the goal of ensuring prosperity and opportunity for citizens. Tri-State Alert said it asked incoming board members and Barr how they intend to work across the mix of two veteran commissioners and three newly elected members; Leatherman, Burkett and Shepherd had not responded before that outlet's publication, and it said the article would be updated if they do.
What the New Board Will Face
The incoming commissioners inherit a packed agenda. Decisions on data-center development, school funding, fire and rescue services, county taxes and public participation all await the board, according to localnews1.org. In June, commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium on new data-center development while officials worked on permanent zoning regulations, the same report notes. Young had campaigned on public safety, road improvements and requiring data-center developers to pay for infrastructure needed by their projects, per localnews1.org's reporting.
Tri-State Alert reports that the new board has not yet announced a swearing-in date, though such ceremonies have historically been held in early December. Once seated, incoming commissioners will vote to approve a board president and vice president, according to that outlet's reporting. In a related down-ballot race, Mike Guessford won re-election to the third available Washington County school board seat by 152 votes over Robin Merchant-Spickler, per heraldmailmedia.com.
