Lynchburg Better Together

If you've been watching Lynchburg City Council over the last few years, you know we are currently saddled with a divisive and short-sighted majority that is systematically dismantling our public schools, driving our best City employees away, and distracting from the important work of making Lynchburg a great place to live. It doesn't have to be that way!

Lynchburg deserves a City Council that is forward-thinking, collaborative, and accountable. But we can only get there by electing competent folks with integrity, empathy, and a commitment to transparency.

In 2026, we’ll elect three At-Large candidates to City Council. That might seem like a long time away, but we can’t let complacency stall our momentum. Help us keep fighting the good fight for a Lynchburg that is Better Together!

How We Win

Back in January 2024, a group of experienced Democratic candidates and campaign staff/volunteers got together to analyze why MAGA Republican candidates won in the 2022 Lynchburg City Council races and the 2023 State Legislature races. We consistently returned to a central reality: across the City of Lynchburg (with 59,370 registered voters), Democrats kept coming up about 530 votes short.

  • In the 2022 City Council At-Large races, the difference between re-electing Mayor Treney Tweedy and electing #ultraMAGA Marty Misjuns was 528 votes.

  • In the 2023 House of Delegates race, within the City of Lynchburg, Democrat Jennifer Woofter lost to Republican Wendell Walker by 538 votes.

If we could just find those 530 votes, Democrats had a consistent path to victory in the City of Lynchburg. And so we started planning. Those 530 votes are our North Star.

We’re in it for the long haul. We know the urgency of the upcoming City Council elections and the need to elect smart, compassionate, forward-thinking people to counter the chaos and division we have experienced since 2022. But we also know that it is equally vital to build campaign infrastructure for long-term success: more organized volunteers, smarter fundraising, a stronger voter outreach effort, and more effective communication.

And so Lynchburg Better Together was created, and we won’t stop until we flip this City back to something we can be proud of.

2026 City Council Candidates

Lynchburg Better Together will be supporting three outstanding candidates in the 2026 At-Large City Council elections—could you be one of them? Express your interest by September 15 to set up a meeting with the LBT team.

Latest News

Latest News
NEWS & ADVANCE: Candidates for Ward III Debate Key Topics at LU

The candidates for Ward III on Lynchburg City Council debated both local and national issues this week at an election forum sponsored by the College Republicans at Liberty University. The two candidates, Democrat James Coleman and Republican Curt Diemer, offered their views on the best ways to tackle crime and bring civility to city council.

NEWS & ADVANCE: Civility prevails at candidate forum in contrast to council meetings

A Lynchburg City Council candidate forum kicked off Thursday evening with each of the candidates offering their views on how they would listen to the concerns of their constituents and then work to connect, rather than divide, the city’s residents. The forum, co-sponsored by the Lynchburg Voters League, a nonprofit group that works for full voter registration, education and participation, and the Lynchburg Branch of the NAACP, included three candidates running in Ward I, one candidate running in Ward II, two in Ward III and two in Ward IV.

WDBJ7: Democratic Candidates Launch Lynchburg Campaigns for November Election

WDBJ7 covered the campaign launch at Monument Terrace for the four Democratic candidates seeking seats on City Council this November. Watch the full video below.

WSET: 'Civility and collaboration:' Lynchburg Democrats announce run for City Council

On Thursday, Lynchburg Democrats announced their candidates running for city council this election. A crowd gathered to hear the four candidates speak at Monument Terrace. One common focus was civility and communication. Democratic candidates running for city council said something needs to change. Dr. James Coleman is running against Jeff Helgeson in Ward 3. "Civility and collaboration are necessary, huge, so that we can have strong public schools and learning for all students regardless of the option," Dr. Coleman said.

NEWS & ADVANCE: Democratic City Council candidates look to prioritize civility and cooperation among other things

A little over a month removed from Lynchburg Better Together announcing its four candidates who secured Democratic nominations for November’s Lynchburg City Council elections, the group officially announced its campaign Thursday afternoon. More than 40 people joined the Democratic candidates on a warm afternoon at the base of Monument Terrace, located at 9th and Church streets.

PRESS RELEASE: Lynchburg Democrats for City Council Announce Campaign Launch

Lynchburg Better Together will announce a campaign launch on Thursday, May 23 at 12:00 PM at the base of the Monument Terrace steps (9th and Church Street) to introduce the four Democratic City Council candidates running for a seat on November 5, 2024. Randy Smith (Ward 1), Dr. Sterling Wilder (Ward 2), Dr. James Coleman (Ward 3), and April Watson (Ward 4) will be joined by friends, families and supporters.