Ed. — Archived from the Sunday, Jan. 7, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — Some leading Republicans have thrown their support behind John Napier, one of three candidates in the Tuesday, Jan. 9, special election for the vacant District 1 seat on the Virginia Beach City Council.
Local elections in Virginia Beach are nonpartisan, but the parties can be influential in selecting members of the City Council and School Board.
Napier has been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and former Gov. Bob McDonnell, among others, and the Republican Party of Virginia Beach announced the city committee’s endorsement of Napier’s campaign in December.
Napier, an attorney who owns a mediation consulting business, faces Teresa Gladney, a retired federal worker, and David “Hutch” Hutcheson, the city’s former fire chief, in the special election to fill the seat following Rocky Holcomb’s resignation to become sheriff. Only District 1 voters can cast ballots in the race.
Local public safety groups have endorsed Hutcheson, the former Virginia Beach fire chief, in the District 1 race. He has been endorsed by Virginia Beach Professional Fire & EMS Local 2924 and Virginia Beach Police Benevolent Association Local 34.
And the Virginia Beach Education Association-Political Action Committee of Educators, known as VBEA-PACE, endorsed Hutcheson in the District 1 special election. The endorsement reflects Hutcheson’s support for better wages, working conditions and work-life balance for educators, according to the organization.
As of Tuesday, Jan. 2, turnout in the special election had been very low since it started in late November, according to numbers provided by the Virginia Beach Voter Registration & Elections Office.
There were 168 in-person early ballots cast and 668 ballots returned by mail so far out of about 36,000 voting-age residents in the district, according to the office.
Virginians will soon start voting early in the Tuesday, March 5, presidential party primaries. Some controversies aside, many folks presume a Biden-Trump rematch in the presidential election this year, Virginians can vote in one of the party primaries on Super Tuesday.
Candidates for the Democratic nomination are President Joe Biden, the incumbent and presumed frontrunner seeking a second term, author and activist Marianne Williamson and U.S. Rep. Dean Benson Phillips of Minnesota.
Candidates for the Republican nomination include former President Donald Trump, the presumed frontrunner for the GOP nomination. He is joined on the primary ballot by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessperson and pastor Ryan Binkley of Texas, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy of Ohio, Florida Gov. Ron D. DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki R. Haley, who served as ambassador to the U.N. during the Trump administration.
The first day of early in-person voting is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 19. Further information is available online via elections.virginia.gov.
All five satellite locations in the city will be open for the final week of early voting in Virginia Beach, though there will be no Sunday voting, according to the Virginia Beach Voter Registration & Elections Office.
Additional information is expected to be posted soon at the office’s website via virginiabeach.gov/voter.
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