Ed. — Archived from the Sunday, Sept. 22, print edition.
BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE
COURTHOUSE — John Sutton, a retired educator and administrator, ended his candidacy for a School Board seat on Monday, Sept. 9, after his opponent in the race sued him in Circuit Court over issues with the Sutton campaign’s nominating petitions.
The filing by Mark Bohenstiel alleged problems with some of the signatures on nominating petitions meant Sutton was ineligible to remain on the ballot.
Following a hearing, a judge initially decided to keep Sutton on the ballot pending a trial, according to reporting by The Virginian-Pilot’s Jane Harper, but Sutton still announced his withdrawal from the race, citing the toll the matter has taken on his family.
The withdrawal means Bohenstiel is on the ballot unopposed and is the presumed winner of the District 3 race that ultimately will be decided on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Early voting was scheduled to begin in the race on Friday, Sept. 20. This edition of The Independent News went to press late Thursday, Sept. 19.
Sutton filed paperwork to formally withdraw with the Virginia Beach Voter Registration & Elections Office and his name no longer will appear on the ballot for the District 3 seat.
“Despite the positive outcome of Friday’s hearing,” Sutton wrote in a statement on social media on Tuesday, Sept. 10, “the past two weeks have caused me and my family a tremendous amount of stress, and I have decided that the best way forward for myself, my family, the City of Virginia Beach and its students is to withdraw my candidacy.”
Sutton, reached by telephone, declined to comment further.
“It was an election integrity situation that we were fighting,” Bohenstiel said during an interview. “I had to do what I felt was right for the city.”
District 3 is among the open seats on the School Board this year, which is only the second local elections using a new 10-district voting system for City Council and School Board seats.
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