tony buffington

Supervisor Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) stands on one of the county’s last land purchases of his term in office, 143 acres just west of the Town of Purcellville where the county plans a new Western Loudoun Recreation Center, a new sports complex, and eventually the replacement for the Purcellville Library.

After two terms on the county board, Supervisor Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) has formally announced he will not seek reelection this November.

In his emailed announcement March 23, he thanked his constituents for the honor of representing them.

“That being said, while I very much enjoy representing the needs of our District and Loudoun as a whole, those responsibilities consume an enormous amount of my time which often results in missed time with family, and with the majority of my kids entering high school during the next Board's term, I've decided to further prioritize quality time with them over the next several years,” he wrote.

Buffington first took office in 2016, after winning his 2015 election against Richard A. Jimmerson Jr., who ran as an independent. He was reelected in 2019, fending off both a nominating convention contest from Florian Hauswiesner and a general election challenge from Democrat Tia Walbridge.

During that time, he has also changed careers—at the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, he was a sergeant with the Capitol Police—moved into the Town of Purcellville, and gotten married, growing his household as he and his wife, Cristina, joined their families, with six children between them.

In that time, he has also been charged with representing by far the largest district in Loudoun, both by area and population—and one with a diverse set of communities.

The Blue Ridge District encompasses more than half of Loudoun County’s land. The western edge of the district, climbing the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, little resembles the district’s eastern reaches with packed townhouse developments and commercial and industrial parks reaching the edge of Dulles Airport property. And as of the 2020 U.S. Census, it was home to more than 88,000 people, more than double the population of the Sterling District with its 41,000 residents.

After the latest redistricting, Buffington no longer lives in the district. The new Little River District, the descendent of the previous Blue Ridge District, still reaches from the county’s western border to Dulles Airport and all along its southern border, but does not reach as far north as Purcellville.

During redistricting talks, Buffington pushed to draw the districts in a way that would encourage electing two western Loudoun residents on the board, but that was a difficult task given the relatively small population of the west and the requirement that election districts have roughly equal populations.

Beginning with this year’s election, the Town of Purcellville is in the redrawn Catoctin District. That puts Buffington in the same district as one of the county board’s two other Republicans, Supervisor Caleb E. Kershner (R-Catoctin). Buffington was the only supervisor drawn out of his election district.

“While it is possible under the new plan that western Loudoun could be represented by two supervisors, the chances of that happening are extremely low given that the overwhelming majority of population in the Little River District resides in the eastern portion of the District which falls within the much more densely populated Suburban Policy Area,” Buffington wrote. “Therefore, the Little River District Supervisor will most likely live in the more populated eastern portion of the District which has vastly different needs than western Loudoun.”

But Buffington also pointed out that although he has aligned himself with western Loudoun interests, when first elected he did not live in western Loudoun himself.

“That being said, it's entirely possible—and my hope—that a representative living in the eastern portion of the Little River District will fight just as hard for the needs of those in western Loudoun as he or she will for the needs of those in the more densely populated portions of the District and County as a whole, like I did when first elected and living in Brambleton,” he wrote.

The board faced some of its biggest decisions and milestones during his tenure. That included things like writing a new county comprehensive plan for the first time in nearly two decades, overhauling pay scales for county employees and firefighters, opening the long-awaited Silver Line Metro stops in Loudoun and 260-acre Hal & Berni Hanson Regional Park, weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, a range of transportation projects in Loudoun’s ever-growing network and, crucially for the Blue Ridge District, inking a deal to bring broadband internet service to all of Loudoun.

In his lengthy farewell note, Buffington highlighted some of his and the county board’s work during his term in office. He pointed to decisions such as new protections for western Loudoun in the new comprehensive plan, never approving a single residential upzoning in the west, and creating the Conservation Easement Assistance Program to help defray some of the costs of putting undeveloped land under easement.

He also pointed to the county’s purchase of several large tracts of land for parks in the west. The county is in the process of the latest of those purchases, 143 acres just west of Purcellville town limits where supervisors plan a new Western Loudoun Recreation Center, a new sports complex, and eventually the replacement for the Purcellville Library. That purchase will tie together more than 700 acres of publicly owned land reaching to the Town of Round Hill’s Sleeter Lake Park. In 2019, the Board of Supervisors bought 106 acres next to that park, which created a contiguous connection to the 199-acre Franklin Park.

In the eastern portion of the district, among other things he highlighted many current and future transportation projects, such as building Northstar Boulevard, widening Belmont Ridge Road, building a new interchange at Loudoun County Parkway and Rt. 50, and extending Loudoun County Parkway.

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(5) comments

Willowsford Watcher

Why would anyone praise this guy? We should all be happy that he is finally leaving. His own party tried to get someone to run against him because he is so toxic and dishonest. I've heard so many horror stories about this guy that the title of this article should be "Good Riddance!".

Loudoun Farmer

Supervisor Buffington has been a solid advocate for agriculture and rural Loudoun. He'll definitely be missed. The same unfortunately cannot be said for Mr. Kershner.

timsmith

I don't have much admiration for the supervisors, incuding Tony Buffington. He's too right-wing for my cup of tea. Truth be told, I wouldn't shed a tear if all of them decided to step down. Why not give others a chance? Let's have a clean slate for 2024. Happy Easter Loudoun!

LoCo Bag Lady

Buffington has been a better advocate for western Loudoun than Kershner. Kershner's "farm boy" routine played well during the primary but it ended there.

WLoCoResident

You should run hot shot!!! You are really opinionated so why not put your gusto to the test?!?

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