Tuesday was the filing deadline for the upcoming May 4 local elections. In Norfolk, where we have five ward seats and the mayor on the ballot, 18 candidates have filed. In Portsmouth, three at-large council seats are up, and eight people have filed to fill them. Over in Chesapeake, there will be five at-large seats each for council and school board. Seventeen have filed for the council seats and eight for the school board.
In Hampton, seven have filed for three available council seats and five have filed for three available school board seats. The ballot in Newport News will feature the mayor plus three council seats and four school board seats. A total of 19 candidates has filed.
I applaud all of the candidates who have decided to throw their hats in the ring for the privilege to serve the public.
What does it mean to have so many in the various races? For one, I think it demonstrates that there is a certain dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. The mood of the country, aimed at the national level, seems to have trickled down to the local races.
But I cannot ignore the downside of having so many candidates in the races. The reality is that multiple challengers make it that much easier for the incumbents to remain in position, as the opponents essential vie for a piece of the limelight. Incumbents have a tremendous advantage – name recognition – that challengers spend a lot of time and money to try to overcome. As much as I love seeing all these people run, I know it’s an uphill battle for many.
Now’s the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their city. Pick a candidate – or two or three – and head over to their campaign offices to help out. Campaigns need your time, and they need your money. Our communities deserve to have the very best representatives we can get, not just those with the most money and/or the best connections.
All politics is local. Get involved in the local races.
I’ll have a complete candidates’ list up later.
UPDATE: The entire list is below the fold
| Norfolk City Council | |||
| Mayor | Ward 1 | Ward 3 | Ward 5 |
| Ryan Cooper | Chuck Brewer | Anthony Burfoot* | Matt Hales |
| Paul Fraim* | Andy Protogyrou | Mamie Johnson | Tommy Smigiel |
| Daun Hester | Barbara Saunders | Billy Mann | Randy Wright* |
| Dan Montague | Paul Trice | Donna Smith | |
| Ward 2 | Ward 4 | ||
| Theresa Whibley* | Billy Cook | ||
| Paul Riddick* | |||
| Portsmouth City Council | Portsmouth School Board | ||
| (3 seats available) | (4 seats available) | ||
| Steve Carroll | Jim Hewitt* | ||
| Paige Cherry | Claude Parent Jr. | ||
| Ted Lamb | Ernest L. Reid Jr. | ||
| Bill Moody Jr.* | Linda Ridenour* | ||
| Marlene Randall* | Mark Whitaker* | ||
| Doug Smith* | |||
| David Vass | |||
| O.B. Wilson Jr. | |||
| Chesapeake City Council | Chesapeake School Board | ||
| (5 seats available) | (5 seats available | ||
| Rebecca Adams | Suzy Kelly | Jack Bider | Jay Leftwich* |
| Thomas Arrington III | Burnie Mansfield | Samuel Boone, Jr. | Harry Murphy* |
| Rolelian Boone | Scott Matheson | Christie Craig | Victoria Proffitt |
| James Coghlan | Michael Murphy | Bonita Harris | Robert Robinson |
| Bryan Collins* | Bill O’Connor, Jr. | Sheila Hill-Russ* | Melinda Russell |
| Peter Conlogue | Dwight Parker* | Colleen Leary | Michael Woods* |
| Lonnie Craig | Ella Ward* | ||
| John de Triquet* | Brian White | ||
| Robert Ike, Jr. | |||
| Hampton City Council | Hampton School Board | ||
| (3 seats available) | (3 seats available) | ||
| Larry Gwaltney | Hampton Roads District, Seat A | ||
| Will Moffett | Henry Godfrey* | Jennifer Phillips | |
| Chris Stuart | |||
| Donnie Tuck | Hampton Roads District, Seat B | ||
| James Sparrow | Butch Harper* | ||
| Theresa Sellers | |||
| Paige Washington* | Chesapeake Bay District, Seat A | ||
| Sharon Warren | Joe Kilgore | ||
| Newport News City Council | |||
| Mayor | South District | North District | Central District |
| Pat Woodbury | Sheryl Abbott | William Collins | Bert Bateman |
| McKinley Price | Shaun Brown | Sharon Scott | Rick Saunders |
| Saundra Cherry | |||
| Joe Whitaker* | |||
| Newport News School Board | |||
| At Large | South District | North District | Central District |
| Debbie Johnston* | Carlton Ashby* | Pricillia Burnett | Renee Beamer |
| Rick Jones | John W. McMillan | Angela Herring | |
| Mike Wagner* | Jeff Stodghill | ||
Sorry it took me so long to get this up.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Don’t you mean a Republic in action? 🙂
I guess both would be correct in this case, Warren. Our form of government is a constitutional republic, but those that represent us in government are elected democratically.