The Virginia State Board of Elections certifies Virginia's 2021 election results.
Former Del. John O'Bannon, a Republican from Henrico County, is the new chairman of the State Board of Elections.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed O'Bannon, who previously has served as vice chairman, to lead the five-member panel. The position was formerly held by Del. Bob Brink, a Democrat from Arlington County, whose term expired on Jan. 31. Brink had chaired the board for three years.
O'Bannon, a physician, served in the House of Delegates, representing Henrico County from 2001 to 2018. He lost the seat to Democrat Debra Rodman in 2017.
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Youngkin also appointed Matthew Weinstein, a McGuireWoods lawyer and Democrat from Arlington, to replace Brink on the board, while reappointing O'Bannon and Republican Georgia Alvis-Long, a nurse and former electoral board member in Augusta County. The other remaining members are former Del. Donald Merricks, a Republican from Pittsylvania County, and Angela Chiang, a Democrat and retired state employee from the Richmond area.
Weinstein is a land use and zoning attorney at McGuireWoods and former chairman of the Arlington Electoral Board. "He has fantastic elections experience," Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals said Tuesday.
Separately, Youngkin announced Monday he appointed former Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax, as chairman of the board of directors at the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. Hugo served in the House of Elections for 17 years before losing to Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, in 2019.
Hugo replaces current chair Maria Everett, a former senior attorney at the Virginia Division of Legislative Services with extensive experience in ABC laws and regulation. Everett will remain on the five-member board.
A seat on the ABC board used to be coveted by former legislators and other retired state officials because it was a full-time job that boosted state retirement benefits. After the former executive branch agency became an independent authority in 2018, membership on the board became a part-time job.
Hugo currently is registered as a lobbyist for Virginia Union University and Grover Gaming, a North Carolina-based company that makes pull-tab games for charitable gaming organizations, which are regulated by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Youngkin also announced Monday he appointed Jason Powell, a longtime fiscal analyst at the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee, as senior adviser to Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller.
Powell previously served as deputy for special projects on the Senate Finance committee, with experience in transportation and economic development issues.
