Local races update

A not-so-quick update on what’s going on in Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk. I’ll have to wait until I have more time to catch up on the other local races in Hampton Roads this November.

Portsmouth

The interim mayor of Portsmouth, selected by the council, turned out to be a former Vice Mayor Bernard Griffin. The vote was 5-1, which is interesting to say the least. That means the two council members who offered themselves for the position ended up voting for someone else! I’m guessing that was an interesting closed session, with the two of them trying to sway three others to their respective sides. The official vote, as is generally the case, never reflects the real intentions of council, just their compromise. And the one dissenter, Paige Cherry, obviously couldn’t be convinced in the closed session to go along. His guy, Bishop Curtis Edmonds, was not available for the council interviews held Monday, but was supposed to have been considered.

Griffin has pledged not to run in November. No such pledges yet from Elizabeth Psimas or Charles Whitehurst, the two council members who applied for the appointment. I suspect we’ll see one or both of them announce soon. The only other name I’ve heard mentioned as a candidate for the fall is Kenny Wright.

Virginia Beach

The story of the day yesterday was that Mayor Will Sessoms has amassed a sizeable warchest – according to VPAP, he has $192,986 on hand – and intends to use some of it to help other council candidates. Brian Kirwin raises some good questions about the supposed transparency of Virginia’s campaign financing disclosures. Who among the candidates will Sessoms, who out-raised all of them combined, favor?

Virginia Beach continues to out-pace the other localities with the number of candidates. Two years ago, there were 15 candidates for the council and school board. This year, the number has risen to 23.  Only one council seat – Beach borough, represented by John Uhrin – is unopposed., while three school board seats are unchallenged. Still, it is impressive that so many have offered themselves, particularly in a November race. At some point, I’m hoping that the newspaper starts covering these races.

Norfolk

The special election to fill the remainder of Daun Hester’s term on council will be on the ballot in November. So far, two candidates have announced: real estate appraiser Earl Fraley  on July 8 and Realtor Angelia Williams on July 27. Fraley has the support of councilman Paul Riddick, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.  Williams has not announced any official supporters yet, but her connection to Norfolk Commissioner of the Revenue Sharon McDonald is raising some eyebrows.

With the filing deadline of August 13 still a couple of weeks away, I am hearing that others may enter the fray. I don’t live in Ward 7, which is a super ward encompassing half of the city, but I’ll be paying close attention to this race. I’d like to see a strong, independent voice join the council.