In accordance with the guide provided by Virginian-Pilot editorial page editor Donald Luzzatto, here are my predictions for the local races in Portsmouth:
- Mayor: Incumbent Kenny Wright. I expect the endorsement to ding Wright a bit on his response to the tolls situation – he said he was unaware of those plans – but to say that his challenger, Charles Whitehurst, is too divisive for the role required as mayor.
- City Council (3 seats): With only five candidates, the two incumbents, Steve Heretick and Curtis Edmonds, will garner the endorsement. The third seat is really where the battle lies, and I think the scales are tipped in favor of former council member Elizabeth Psimas.. I expect they will have nice things to say about former school board member Linda Ridenour.
- School Board (6 seats): Five incumbents are among the seven candidates for the six seats. I predict these five - James E. Bridgeford, B. Keith Nance, Sr., Elizabeth Daniels, Edward P. “Ned” McCabe, and Costella B. Williams – will be endorsed along with June A.C. Mouran.
There you have it 
1/1 so far – the Pilot endorsed Wright. No, they didn’t ding him on the tolls situation, but yes, they got Whitehurst on him being divisive.
Posted by Vivian J. Paige | Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 10:40 amToday 3/3 on City Council endorsements and 4/6 School Board endorsements. I almost picked Lamb instead of Mouran. I suspected the board wasn’t fond of Nance, but I thought they’d stick with the incumbent thing.
Posted by Vivian J. Paige | Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 9:29 am