VIRGINIA BEACH — City Councilmember Rocky Holcomb, who in August was appointed to represent the Kempsville District, plans to run this year in a special election for the newly created District 1 seat.
Holcomb is the chief deputy of the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office and a former state delegate. He was appointed to the council following the resignation of former Councilmember Jessica Abbott last year.
In January, the City Council petitioned the Circuit Court to hold a special election in November to fill the remaining two years of the term Abbott began. On Thursday, Feb. 3, Circuit Court Chief Judge Leslie L. Lilley entered an order for the special election to go forward.
Holcomb told The Independent News on Monday, March 7, he looks forward to continuing his service as a member of the City Council, even as the new 10-district voting system has complicated citywide politics a bit.
“When I took the appointment, I knew my heart was in it and there was a lot of work to do, and I wanted to take up that responsibility,” Holcomb said. “I was a little disappointed it’s not citywide, but I will represent District 1 and the city of Virginia Beach with all my heart.”
Under the city’s former hybrid voting system, all seats were selected by all city voters. Even representatives of seats for seven residency districts in the city were voted upon by city voters – whether or not they lived within the district.
Now, under a court-imposed 10-district plan and new state law, only voters within the new districts determine their representation. That means, essentially, voters from a dozen precincts will decide who represents District 1 until 2024.
“I’m as proud as I can be to live in Virginia Beach but especially District 1,” Holcomb said. “The citizens in those precincts are exactly the hard-working folks I love talking to and love representing.”
Holcomb said he will keep working on issues such as continuing the revitalization of historic Kempsville if he is reelected. He said the area has seen good progress, and there is more to do.
Holcomb is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who in a 2017 special election won election to the 85th House District as a Republican. He served a year before losing a reelection bid later that year and then another run for the same House of Delegates seat in 2019.
Holcomb said the transition from state to local government has been a positive one, showing him the difference that can be made on the local level.
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