So I’m 4 for 5 on the Virginia Beach City Council endorsements. The Virginian-Pilot endorsed all of my predictions save one: that of Tanya Bullock in the Princess Anne district. The paper consider incumbent Barbara Henley to be a critical voice on council and wished that Bullock had run for an at-large seat. And based on what they wrote about their choice for the second at-large seat, it sounds like she would have gotten that endorsement.
So that makes me correct in 8 out of 10 predictions so far. Not bad.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
The V-P simply rubber stamped Will Sessoms list of endorsees. Same 5 candidates.
Like Will, The V-P would leave Virginia Beach with an all-White City Council.
The all-white City Council is part of the reason I thought the Pilot would endorse Bullock.
Whaaaa???? Do you really think the Pilot would endorse based on race???
Eileen,
In recent history, The V-P has endorsed on three things: Democrats, incumbents, and diversity. Therefore, the list was stunning on one level.
Then, it wasn’t. The V-P’s history of VB Council endorsements has been to pick candidates who would prop up the status quo. That’s even though the agenda of VB’s elite is largely at odds with what The V-P would love to see regionally.
No, not solely. I did say “part of the reason.” Virginia Beach continues to lack black representation. If the editorial board was going to endorse a black candidate this cycle, after taking into consideration the necessary qualifications, that person would have been Bullock.
They were sufficiently impressed with her to have written as much about her as they did.