How do I volunteer for the Sara Jaeger campaign?

Email SaraJaeger4OTC@gmail.com or message the campaign on Facebook or Instagram. Help is needed displaying yard signs, canvassing, staffing the registrar's office during early voting, staffing the polls at Prospect Heights on Election Day, and phone banking to neighbors in the 303 precinct.

Sara Jaeger — Write-In for Orange Town Council

The most important thing on this page

How to write Sara Jaeger in on your ballot

3Seats open

2Names printed

Three seats are open on the Orange Town Council, and only two candidates got their names on the ballot. There is a seat with no one printed beside it — and you may vote for up to three. Writing Sara in doesn't take your vote away from anyone else.

Sara is a write-in candidate, so her name is not printed anywhere on the ballot. Two things have to happen for the vote to count: fill in the oval next to a blank write-in line, and print her name on that line.

Spell it right — the spelling is the vote

This is the part that decides a write-in race. Take ten seconds now and it will stick.

SARA

S · A · R · A

No "h" on the end. In her words: "No need for a silent 'h.' I'm certainly not silent."

JAEGER

J · A · E · G · E · R

Like the drink. It's the proper German spelling — about as common there as Smith is here — and it means hunter, which is fitting for Orange.

Find the Orange Town Council contest

It's on your local ballot below the state and county races. It will say to vote for up to three, with two printed names and blank write-in lines below them.

Fill in the write-in oval

Completely fill the oval or box next to a blank write-in line. A name written without filling in the oval may not be counted.

Print SARA JAEGER on the line

Print it clearly, first and last name. On a touchscreen ballot marker, choose "Write-in" in the Town Council contest and type the name.

Town of Orange — Town Council

Vote for not more than three

Candidate printed on ballot

SARA JAEGER

Illustration only. For registration deadlines, early voting hours, and polling places, check the Virginia Department of Elections or the Orange County voter registrar.

Where Sara stands

Priorities for the Town of Orange

Six commitments, in Sara's own words — from keeping industrial data centers out of Orange to making sure the town stays affordable for the people who already live here.

Priority 1

Preventing industrial data center encroachment

We must protect our rural lands, agricultural economy, and overall quality of life. We have difficulty providing clean water to our current residents as is — we simply do not have the infrastructure, let alone water to sell to a data center.

Relying on short-term revenue from data centers poses long-term economic, health and environmental risks. We need to avoid the burden of possibly abandoned industrial sites and substantial cleanup costs if the tech market shifts.

Priority 2

Revitalizing downtown

We have so many underutilized buildings in town, especially along Main Street. I hope to build Orange into a vibrant hub of diversified small businesses.

Strengthening our local economy through tourism and local commerce will make Orange an even more attractive place to live, shop, and visit, encouraging the next generation and new entrepreneurs to invest in our community.

Priority 3

Aesthetics, infrastructure and livability

We need to enhance town walkability, parking availability and family amenities, renovate existing parks and underutilized green spaces, and address aging infrastructure proactively.

To accomplish these goals we can pursue creative funding, including increased grant applications and coordinated community fundraising with residents as well as wealthy local property and business owners.

Priority 4

Historic character, and a voice for every resident

Our town is beloved for its rich history and its friendly, quaint, rural charm. We can protect that character only by bringing all Orange residents to the table of discussion and decision-making.

Our residents are truly diverse — socioeconomically, culturally, and ideologically. Celebrating our history means also acknowledging those who have been less visible or underserved. Everyone here deserves recognition, dignity, support, and the chance to live a successful life.

Priority 5

Affordability and housing options

Orange remains more affordable than Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, and even Culpeper. We must improve the availability of high-quality, affordable housing so both long-term and new residents can afford to live here.

Orange has an invisible unhoused population, including children, and currently no temporary housing options. This must be addressed. Landlords holding large property shares should be held accountable through code enforcement for maintaining conditions that match what they charge in rent.

Priority 6

Accountability for public officials

Public officials should not be making behind-the-scenes deals with corporate entities seeking to establish here who do not have the long-term best interests of our residents in mind.

Large market-share business and property owners must be held accountable to the public when they try to strike deals which benefit the few rather than all residents here. As an elected official, I promise to serve the best interests of all constituents equally, with integrity and love.

Sara Jaeger standing in front of the historic mural in Taylor Park, downtown Orange, Virginia — Taylor Park, downtown Orange

About the candidate

Seven generations in Orange

Portrait of Sara Jaeger, write-in candidate for Orange Town Council in Orange, Virginia

My name is Sara Jaeger (née Shotwell) and I'm running as a write-in candidate for Orange Town Council. I have two children at Orange Elementary School, and my family has roots here running back at least seven generations and counting.

As a millennial who has come back to establish my own family in Orange, I believe residents of my generation and stage in life need seats at the table of leadership guiding this town toward a prosperous and sustainable future.

My commitment to standing up to fill a need as it presents itself comes primarily from my late father, Alan J. Shotwell. Raised in Rapidan by his grandparents and an OCHS alumnus, he enlisted in the Navy during Vietnam, moved to the medical corps as an optometrist, then retired from the military to his familial compound in Rapidan. A local historian, genealogist, and longtime Fire and EMS responder for the Rapidan Volunteer Fire Department, he was much better known in this town until around the pandemic, when he became ill and I started paying closer attention to the narratives, leaders, and larger public conversations happening here in Orange.

Now that I'm a candidate for local public office here in rural Virginia, I'm dedicated to putting aside all larger partisan distractions to focus entirely on the objectively honorable task of improving the quality of life for all my neighbors here in the town of Orange.

I am committed to finding common ground with those who may have already made prejudgments about me because I've been quite vocal at public meetings here in our community. I'm unabashedly civically engaged and vocal about fighting injustice as well as corruption, because it affects all of our ability to live our lives here with dignity, respect, and opportunity.

Bringing about positive change through compromise is a marathon. I possess the patience, compassion, dedication, and open-mindedness required to make a truly positive impact on our community. I am running for the Orange Town Council to ensure that all residents' needs are equitably served, not just those who have held the strings of power for far too long.

"I'm running as a write-in candidate because, if not I, who will take on this difficult role of public service? Honestly, this is not the ideal stage in my life to run for public office. I am a full-time mom on partial disability for epilepsy. Despite my active engagement with others, recruiting and encouraging them to run for this seat — to put it quite bluntly, no one would step up. So here I am, ready to serve."

Sara Jaeger, on why she's running

Seven generations in Orange Mom of two at Orange Elementary No data centers Downtown small business Affordable housing Accountable government

In the news

Byrd Street's candidate interview

On September 17, 2026, Byrd Street asked all four candidates for Orange Town Council the same twelve questions in a joint Q&A, and these are Sara's complete answers, in her own words.

Read the full interview on Byrd Street

Interview by Hilary Holladay, Byrd Street, September 17, 2026.

Why she's running

"I did not plan to run for public office, if at all, until my children were much older and more self-sufficient. When I saw only two people got their names onto the ballot for three available seats, and after talking with numerous people, trying to encourage them to run because I thought they were very qualified and possibly in a good position to do so, none of them were willing to take on the role. I realized now is the time that there's a need. I'm available to fill the need—à la my father—military, volunteer firefighter: If there's a need that you can fill, you step up and do it."

Sara Jaeger, to Byrd Street

The No. 1 issue: affordable housing

"As far as my discussions with residents go, despite whatever hot-button issues there are, I believe it is affordable housing. The affordable housing apartment complexes that we do have in town, I have heard from numerous people concerns about upkeep and the conditions, and then being priced out of their housing, and there not being any options other than these houses with poor conditions or being forced to move elsewhere. And the town has certain amenities that are very attractive to a lot of people [who would like to live here]."

"There's an invisible unhoused population, particularly of people that are my children's [preschool] teachers—people living on couches and people living out of hotels until they can find housing outside of town. And I know that housing and the cost of everything is across the board nationwide an issue, but there are significant land and property owners [in Orange] that I believe could do more to help the housing crisis in town."

Sara Jaeger, to Byrd Street

A data center inside town limits

"Across the board, no. There is not the space in town for a data center, nor is there the infrastructure. Having continued to research data centers, the net negative effects outweigh the theoretical possible benefits. Hyperscale and other current data center technology is moving at such a rapid pace that any hyperscale that, say, the county is considering will be obsolete by the time they complete building. And then you'll have decimated the landscape."

"You'll have all of these negative environmental factors. Even when they say “closed loop,” which doesn't use [public] water, it is a cooling material that leaches into the groundwater when they have to flush it. The town owns the water treatment facility. I grew up on the Rapidan River. The health of the Rapidan River is part of my soul. The infrastructure of the pipes needs to be addressed. We do not have the capability to sell any water to a county data center. So I would vehemently oppose data center construction."

Sara Jaeger, to Byrd Street

Why Orange should vote for her

"Because I'm invested in the best interests of this town. My family is going to grow up here. I have roots going back generations. I never thought I would be back here, but now that I am, of course I want it to be the best place to live for everyone. I will listen to everyone's concerns and do the best of my ability to address those."

Sara Jaeger, to Byrd Street

More from the interview

Sara's complete answers to the rest of Byrd Street's twelve questions.

Town council meetings attended since Jan. 1

"Since January 1, I've not been able to make very many. I have kept up with the minutes about what is going on."

Political party endorsement

"I am not, and I do not want that. While my own personal beliefs may be one thing on a national or state level, they do not come into play in local politics. I want to represent the needs of everyone, and I've spoken to people across the gamut in town, and I don't want to be seen as solely representing the needs of one political party."

Conversations across political and religious differences

"People are people. I don't think that political or religious beliefs have any place in local politics that involve getting parks made, improving the water infrastructure, the budget. I will talk to anybody if they come to the table in good faith, and I much prefer to talk to people in person."

Skills and traits a town council member needs

"The skills are the ability to investigate and research and to ask questions if you don't understand or don't know the answer, to have the humility to recognize that you don't know what you don't know, but you're willing to do the research about it, the ability to compromise. And that means that most of the time you have to concede something and you don't get everything that you want, but you do what is best for the net good of the people. It's also the ability to have a conversation with anybody and despite what their preconceived notions may be or yours, to try to have a smile on your face and agree to disagree if you need to, but not to have ill will towards anyone."

Local leaders who set a great example

"I would say that Harrison Cluff is out and about in the community, and he will talk to anyone and has a generally affable personality, and I believe that he has made some surprising decisions that are genuinely in the best interest of the community and not [based on] political affiliation or personal affiliation. And [Gordonsville Town Council member] Stevean Irving—I've always had a good relationship with him and [admire] his interest in doing what's best for, say, the kids of Gordonsville and putting partisan things aside."

"And I respect [Orange Town Council member] Delmer Seal immensely and his family's involvement in the community. He will pick up the phone even if he's at work and answer questions if he's able to, and he's also honest about, “I can't do much about that.” I personally had an issue where my internet was cut by people doing some tree trimming near the electrical line. My husband's work from home depends on that. I called Delmer, and it was dealt with almost immediately."

Flock license-plate cameras

"Flock and the misuse of that data by the companies that own the Flock cameras—that I believe vastly outweighs any potential benefits that the town police may have in their use. I don't trust the companies that own the Flock cameras to not misuse the data that they are getting, despite what they may say at surface level."

A partnership with ICE

"Absolutely not. While I understand Gordonsville may have had financial reasons to make that agreement and may say at surface level that they're not actually going to actively participate, there are other ways for us to fund our town police. That being said, I don't know for sure what deals may already be in place and not yet disclosed."

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Sara, the Orange Town Council race, and casting a write-in vote that counts.

How do I spell Sara Jaeger's name on the ballot?

S-A-R-A J-A-E-G-E-R. Sara has no "h" on the end. Jaeger is spelled like the drink — the proper German spelling, which means "hunter."

Print it as clearly as you can on the blank write-in line, and make sure you also fill in the oval next to that line.

How many seats are open, and can I still vote for other candidates?

Three seats are open on the Orange Town Council, and only two candidates got their names printed on the ballot. You may vote for up to three people, so writing Sara in does not take a vote away from anyone else you want to support.

Who is Sara Jaeger?

Sara Jaeger (née Shotwell) is a write-in candidate for Orange Town Council in the Town of Orange, Virginia. She has two children at Orange Elementary School and family roots in Orange going back at least seven generations. Her campaign, "Homegrown Leadership," focuses on keeping industrial data centers out of Orange, revitalizing downtown, protecting the town's historic character, keeping Orange affordable, and holding public officials accountable.

Why is she running as a write-in?

In her words: "If not I, who will take on this difficult role of public service? Honestly, this is not the ideal stage in my life to run for public office. I am a full-time mom on partial disability for epilepsy. Despite my active engagement with others, recruiting and encouraging them to run for this seat — to put it quite bluntly, no one would step up. So here I am, ready to serve."

When is the election, and when does early voting start?

Early voting begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at the Orange County Registrar's office. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Voters in Orange's precinct 303 vote at Prospect Heights. Confirm hours, locations, and registration deadlines with the Orange County voter registrar or the Virginia Department of Elections.

Where does Sara stand on data centers in Orange?

She opposes industrial data center development in Orange. In her words: "We must protect our rural lands, agricultural economy, and overall quality of life. We have difficulty providing clean water to our current residents as is. We simply do not have the infrastructure, let alone water to sell to a data center."

"Relying on short-term revenue from data centers poses long-term economic, health and environmental risks. We need to avoid this burden leaving our community with possibly abandoned industrial sites and substantial cleanup costs if the tech market shifts."

Does a write-in vote actually count?

Yes. Write-in votes are counted in Virginia elections as long as the ballot is marked correctly — the write-in oval filled in and the name written legibly on the line. Local races are often decided by small margins, so each correctly marked write-in matters.

How can I donate to the campaign?

By Venmo (@SARA_JAEGER4ORANGETC), Cash App ($SaraJaeger0), cash, or check. The Town of Orange does not require a campaign committee for town elections, but Sara maintains a separate campaign bank account under a campaign EIN and tracks every donation and expense herself for accountability.

How do I volunteer or get involved?

Email SaraJaeger4OTC@gmail.com, or message the campaign on Facebook or Instagram. Yard signs, canvassing, staffing the registrar's office and the polls, and calling five neighbors are all needed — see the ways to help.

Get involved

Ways to help

A write-in campaign is won by people telling other people how to spell a name. Here's what's needed most — pick anything that fits and send a note.

Display a yard sign

The simplest, most visible thing you can do. Send your address and we'll get one to you.

Canvassing

Knock doors with us and talk to neighbors around the 303 precinct.

Staff the registrar's office

On the first day of early voting, and on the weekends leading up to November 3.

Staff the polls on Election Day

At Prospect Heights, the polling site for Orange's 303 precinct.

Phone banking

Call five friends in the 303 precinct who may not know Sara yet. Tell them about her, explain they'll need to write her name in — and tell them how to spell it.

Just spread the word

Share this page, or just the spelling. Five conversations at the right moment can decide a local race.

Email to volunteer Or chip in

Support the campaign

Donate, or just say hello

Every dollar goes to signs, walk cards, and getting the spelling in front of voters. Sara tracks and documents all donations and expenses herself, for accountability.

Venmo

@SARA_JAEGER4ORANGETC

Search the handle in the Venmo app