Married Pairs Not Exactly Running Mates

Married Pairs Not Exactly Running Mates
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Candidates Say They Can Remain Objective if Elected

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 18, 2006; Page B05

In this year's election in Haymarket, some candidates know each other pretty well. Too well, some think.

But Haymarket's pair of husband-and-wife candidates -- Timothy and Vicki Benjamin and Susan Shuryn and Ozzie Vazquez -- in the nonpartisan May 2 race say that if elected, they know each other well enough to disagree on how to best run the Prince William County town where the speed limit is 25 mph, the annual budget is $1.5 million and the population is about 1,000.

Timothy Benjamin, who recently lost his volunteer job when the town suspended its auxiliary police officer program, is challenging Mayor Pam E. Stutz. Vicki Benjamin, Shuryn and Vazquez are vying for spots on Haymarket's six-member council. There are five council incumbents -- Robert Weir, Natasha Sikorsky, Sheila Jarboe, James Tobias and John Cole -- running for reelection along with two other newcomers, Robert A. Hoffman Jr. and Nicole M. Tessitore.

Stutz, 63, who was appointed mayor last year after the incumbent moved, said she could not believe that two married couples were running. Voters should question their objectivity, she said. "I'm not married, but if I disagreed....

Married Pairs Not Exactly Running Mates
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