Ed. — This first appeared in the Sunday, Sept. 6, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — The new chairperson of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach is Bill Curtis, a financial resources manager for the Navy and retired naval officer. He served previously as city committee vice chair.
Curtis defeated Jimmy Frost, a website and campaign consultant and longtime city committee member, on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.
The process went a lot smoother than other attempts to name a successor for Tina Mapes.
A vote scheduled for April was canceled due to concerns about the novel coronavirus. Then, on Monday, July 13, a vote was held at the Law Enforcement Training Academy, but it was marred by a flawed voter list – which meant many folks who showed up didn’t appear on the rolls, leading to complications.
The outcome of that vote was discounted. Notebook wrote about it a few weeks back, and that story is online at princessanneindy.com if you want to read more details.
But, look, the thing is done now. The party has a new chairperson, and it can refocus upon the upcoming elections.
On Aug. 26, people filed in and out of the Sportsplex, and voting seemed to go smoothly this time. At 9 p.m., someone called out, “The polls are closed.” The counting started. Among the attendees was Rich Anderson, chairperson of the Republican Party of Virginia.
The final tally was close – 366 for Curtis and 324 for Frost – after a long process.
“Jimmy, thank you again,” Curtis said. “Who would have thought? … My primary focus is what I said all along, unifying the party.”
He thanked Mapes for all she has done for the party during her time as chairperson, and he urged people to rally together for a successful November.
“We need everyone’s help,” Curtis said.
In an interview following the result, Frost said, “I’m obviously disappointed. He certainly did not get a large margin, but he won fair and square.”
Frost noted that some of the ideas he has advanced, such as the party taking a greater role in supporting candidates in nonpartisan local races, are now part of the focus for the city committee leadership.
Curtis included that idea in his campaign to become chair.
“Now I’m going to hold him to it,” Frost.
By way of full disclosure, Frost wrote columns on topics other than politics for The Independent News prior to announcing his candidacy for party chair. And, now that he isn’t running anymore? Here is hoping because this fishwrap doesn’t fill itself.
Notebook understand the conflict of interest, of course.
Please address all complaints to Columbia Journalism Review via editors@cjr.org.
Notebook is sad to report that State Del Glenn Davis, R-84th House District, remains fond of a certain professional baseball team from New York.
“Still a Yankees fan,” he confirmed this past month. “Even in the short season.”
Notebook, which hails from Boston Red Sox country, first broke the news of Davis’ Yankees fandom last year, but its reporting suggests the delegate had been suffering from Yankee fandom for some time.
Symptoms may include wearing shirts and hats with the New York Yankees logo and whatnot. There is no known cure.
In related news, the Yankees, at 21 wins and 16 losses, remained in second place, five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, as this edition went to press.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox were at 13 wins and 27 losses, a cellar-dwelling 14.5 games behind the Rays.
This is either strategy on the part of the Red Sox or a tabulation error by Major League Baseball.
The Virginia Beach Education Association Political Action Committee of Educators, or VBEA-PACE, has endorsed the following candidates seeking local offices in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, election. The candidates who were endorsed are Jody Wagner for Virginia Beach mayor; City Council candidates incumbent Rosemary Wilson, seeking relection to an at-large seat, incumbent Sabrina Wooten in the Centerville District, challenger Bill Dale in the Kempsville District and incumbent Michael Berlucchi in the Rose Hall District; for School Board, incumbent Beverly Anderson and challenger Lauren Logan, both seeking one of the two open at-large seats, and incumbent Trenace Riggs in the Centerville District, incumbent Dan Edwards in the Kempsville District and incumbent Jessica Owens in the Rose Hall District.
Much has been made of President Trump’s odd comments about voting twice, first uttered during a visit to North Carolina on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
The president essentially suggested voting by mail and then voting in person, which, you know, just don’t. His comments, as they tend to be, were tough to unpack and complicated by previous misleading statements about voting by mail and other stuff seemingly meant to undermine confidence in voting. Politics is fun that way.
Elections officials say vote once.
Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections, even released a statement about this on Thursday, Sept. 3, to try to lessen confusion. Bell notes that it is against state law to either vote twice in the same election or solicit someone else to do so.
“There are numerous checks in place in North Carolina that prevent people from double voting,” the statement says.
Anyone – whether in North Carolina or Virginia – with questions about any method of voting should reach their local registrar or find accurate information directly from state and local elections offices for the place in which they are registered to vote.
Not cable news. Not political remarks. Not social media shares from cousins.
And if you have questions about what the president or the news says, maybe use a fact-checking site such as Snopes, which has vetted this particular issue.
Snopes found that Trump, however inartfully, seems to have meant people should check to make sure their vote was counted. But, again, his full remarks suggest voting twice, which is the problem.
It is always best to get answers straight from the horse’s mouth and not some other part of the horse.
Notebook runs announcements of endorsements and events as space allows. Reach jhd@princessanneindy.com.
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