Phyllis J. Randall
Chair At-Large of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
Assumed office
January 1, 2016
Preceded byScott York
Personal details
Born
Phyllis Joycelyn Randall

1964 or 1965
Denver, Colorado
Political partyDemocratic
Children2
ResidenceLansdowne, Virginia
ProfessionMental-health therapist

Phyllis Joycelyn Randall (born 1964 or 1965)[1] is an American politician and mental-health therapist. A Democrat, she is chair at-large of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Virginia and the first African-American woman to chair a county board in Virginia. She was also the defendant in a notable 2019 lawsuit, Davison v. Randall, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the First Amendment precludes government officials from blocking constituents on official government social media accounts.

Biography

Randall grew up in Denver and moved to Ashburn, Virginia from Colorado in the early 1990s.[2][3] She began her career as a mental health counselor,[3] working with juvenile and adult offenders both in and outside of incarceration.[4] Governor Tim Kaine, a Democrat, appointed her chair of the Virginia Fair Housing Board, a role she continued in under Republican Governor Bob McDonnell.[4] Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed her chair of the State Board of Corrections.[4]

Randall ran unsuccessfully for Loudoun County school board in 2003 and for district supervisor in 2007 before being elected chair at-large in 2015.[3] In the four-way race that year, Randall defeated the incumbent Scott York as well as the other challengers, winning with 37% of the vote.[5] Her election made Randall the first African American woman in Virginia’s history to be an elected chair of a county board,[6] as well as becoming one of the first two African Americans to serve on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, along with Sterling District Supervisor Koran Saines.[7]

She was re-elected in 2019, overseeing a growing jurisdiction which by 2019 had 413,000 residents.[1] With 56% of the vote, she defeated Republican John Whitbeck, despite Whitbeck fundraising more than $950,000 to Randall’s $616,000 in the last reporting period before the election.[8]

Also in 2019, Randall was the defendant in a lawsuit, Davison v. Randall, that established public officials may not block constituents on government social media accounts, as a matter of First Amendment rights.[9] The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decision found that Randall had converted her Facebook page into a public forum by inviting, in a post she wrote, “ANY Loudoun citizen on ANY issues, request, criticism, complement or just your thoughts” as well as encouraging constituents to use her “county Facebook page” to contact her.[10] Consequently, the court said, when she deleted a critical post alleging corruption by the county board and blocked its author, she violated the poster’s First Amendment rights.[10] Randall tried to justify her actions by claiming her Facebook page was "private" despite using her government-paid Chief of Staff to administer the page. Use of a public official for private purposes constitutes a crime in Loudoun County. The case drew particular attention because at the time US President Donald Trump was also blocking critics on social media.[10]

Randall lives in Lansdowne, Virginia.[3] She is married with two children.[11]

Electoral history

2003 Loudoun County School Board, Broad Run District General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Bob J. Ohneiser 1,890 43.94
Independent Phyllis J. Randall 1,580 36.74
Independent Chalice V. Radakovich 811 18.86
Write-in 20 00.46
Total votes 4,301 100.00
2007 Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Broad Run District General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lori L. Waters (Incumbent) 3,880 47.93
Democratic Phyllis J. Randall 2,376 29.35
Independent Jack W. Ryan Jr. 1,766 21.81
Write-in 74 00.91
Total votes 8,096 100.00
2015 Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Chair At-Large General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Phyllis Joycelyn Randall 24,633 37.54
Independent Scott Kiefer York (Incumbent) 19,902 30.33
Republican Charles Lewis King 18,934 28.85
Independent Thomas Edward Bellanca 1,974 03.01
Write-in 176 00.27
Total votes 65,619 100.00
2019 Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Chair At-Large General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Phyllis Joycelyn Randall (Incumbent) 63,230 56.68
Republican John Carroll Leon Whitbeck Jr. 43,673 39.14
Independent Robert Joseph Ohneiser 4,494 04.03
Write-in 172 00.15
Total votes 111,569 100.00

References

  1. 1 2 Olivo, Antonio; Sullivan, Patricia (November 5, 2019). "Loudoun elections: Democrat Randall wins second term as county appears to move left". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Cheslow, Daniella (July 9, 2020). "Loudoun County's First Black Chair Presides Over Vote To Remove Confederate Monument". WAMU. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Freed, Benjamin (2016-01-04). "Loudoun County Is Finally Catching Up to the Rest of Washington | Washingtonian (DC)". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  4. 1 2 3 "Phyllis Randall endorses Jennifer McClellan for governor". InsideNoVa. July 1, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  5. ↑ Rachel, Weiner (November 4, 2015). "York, Delgaudio ousted by Democrats in Loudoun County Board elections". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  6. ↑ Tackett, Michael (2017-10-28). "In Virginia Governor's Race, Immigrants' Turnout May Be Key". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  7. ↑ "Loudoun County Elects First African-Americans to Board of Supervisors". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  8. ↑ "Randall re-elected Loudoun County chair; Democrats take over board". InsideNoVa. November 5, 2019. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Stempel, Jonathan (2019-01-07). "Politician cannot block critic on social media - US appeals court". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2019-10-24. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  10. 1 2 3 Stern, Mark Joseph (2019-01-07). "Appeals Court Rules Lawmakers Cannot Block Their Critics on Social Media". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  11. ↑ "Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis J. Randall | Loudoun County, VA - Official Website". www.loudoun.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
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