Ward II candidate attacks 'outcast' Republicans on council (2024)

Rodney Hubbard, the Republican candidate for Ward II on Lynchburg City Council, held a news conference Thursday evening on the steps of E.C. Glass High School, where he shared his opinions about the current divisions on council and what policies he would prioritize if elected in November.

With several supporters standing behind him at the high school, Hubbard emphasized that as the Ward II representative he would work to end the bickering among Republicans on council.

Hubbard is facing incumbent Ward II Councilman Sterling Wilder, who is running as a Democrat this year, and Taormina “Tori” Howard, an Independent, in the race for city council.

“When I get there, we’re not going to have that bickering, I can guarantee you,” Hubbard said. “We’re Republicans. There’s a Republican majority there. I don’t understand why we have two Republicans that don’t understand the majority of Republicans. We have two outcasts, RINO [Republican in name only] Republicans.”

Referring to Stephanie Reed, the Republican mayor of Lynchburg; and Chris Faraldi, Lynchburg vice mayor and Ward IV councilman, Hubbard accused the two of preferring to vote with the Democrats on council.

“As a Republican Party, we didn’t elect them in a firehouse election to go against our fellow Republicans,” he said.

Hubbard also said he would encourage councilmembers to start with a prayer before they are seated on the dais in council chambers for meetings as a way to “calm some of the bickering back and forth.” Under current procedures, at the beginning of each council meeting, once the representatives are seated on the dais, a member will give an invocation.

Asked about his current legal troubles, Hubbard said, “I’m innocent until proven guilty, and those are false charges.”

Hubbard was granted bond on July 19 after spending more than a week in jail in connection with stalking and unlawful filming charges. According to Blue Ridge Regional Jail records, the incident occurred on July 6.

In a separate case, Hubbard is facing a misdemeanor assault and battery charge. That incident happened on May 25, according to court records. After that arrest, Hubbard was released on his own recognizance.

“The people in my ward understand the struggles that we have to go through,” he said.

Hubbard, who graduated from E.C. Glass and was a member of the school’s state champion football team, said he is a candidate who “isn’t afraid to call out what’s wrong and stand up for what’s right.”

“I’m a Black Republican, and I’m proud of it,” he told reporters.

Hubbard said he represents “the values of hard work, self-reliance and the belief that every individual has the power to shape their own destiny.”

“I know what it’s like to work tirelessly to build something from the ground up. I’ve done it with my automotive business, and I’ve done it with my father’s radio station,” he said.

Hubbard’s father, Fletcher Hubbard Sr., worked in radio for most of his career, including at his WLLL 930 AM radio station. He died in March 2023 at the age of 96.

“A lot of our Black people in Lynchburg, they follow along with the Democratic Party,” Hubbard said. “I think they’ve been misled.”

Unlike Democrats, the Republican Party “wants everyone to prosper” and believes “no one has a right to be left behind,” he said.

Hubbard emphasized he would focus on the taxpayers and small businesses of Ward II, along with pushing the city to build more homes for the ward’s residents.

“They’re not putting any money into small businesses,” he said of the current city council. “All they are doing is putting that money wherever they want, like $25 million to the police department, $25 million to the sheriff’s department, another $25 million to the fire department, another $50 million to the school system, which is failing. So they’re just taking money and spending it all on government and forgetting about the people who pay taxes. That’s where the money should go back to.”

When asked who he would support as mayor if elected to council, Hubbard said he was not ready yet to answer the question.

For the Ward II election and other races this fall, the first day of in-person early voting at the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office is Sept. 20. The deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration is Oct. 15. Voting will take place on Election Day — Nov. 5 — from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.