Incumbents hold onto City Council seats in Chesapeake

CHESAPEAKE

When election officials cleared up some mangled numbers, Vice Mayor Dwight Parker had gone from the narrowest of losses to just holding on to his seat.

Incumbents C.E. "Cliff" Hayes Jr. and Patricia Willis also survived the 15-candidate field to retain two of the five City Council seats up for grabs in Tuesday's election. Hayes led all candidates in votes.

The two successful challengers - Debbie Ritter, who previously served on the council, and Rick West - were backed by the Republican Party.

Apparently edged out of the final spot by 41 votes was businesswoman Suzy Kelly.

"I campaigned as a conservative, and I never made any apologies for it," Kelly said. "It seemed to be very well received."

The mix-up occurred when one precinct phoned in incorrect results that seemed to show Kelly beating Parker by six votes, according to Al Spradlin, chairman of the city's electoral board.

The top three vote-getters - Hayes, Ritter and West - have won four-year council terms. Willis and Parker will get two-year terms for seats vacated by council members Rebecca Adams and Alan Krasnoff, who had to give up their seats to run for mayor.

Krasnoff won the mayor's race. He and Willis were also backed by the Republican Party. Hayes and Parker ran as Democrats in what is technically a nonpartisan election.

Parker, a council member since 1995, said the Democrats had failed to energize their base for the election.

"The Republicans are doing a much better job of turning out their vote than we are," he said.

Ritter, who served two council terms before losing her seat in 2006, said that in her most recent campaign she visited almost 20,000 homes, the most she's ever done.

"I got so much encouragement from people to run," she said.

With her council seat back, the first thing she wants to do is get a handle on spending, she said.

"People are cutting back," she said. "They would like their cities to cut back as well."

Her loss is within the half-percentage that would trigger an automatic recount, Spradlin said.

With 15 people running for the five seats, the candidate forums were awkward affairs that, at times, had them huddled together in rows of folding chairs.

Hayes, Parker, Rodney Foster and Mick Meyer ran on a Democratic ticket billed as the Chesapeake Leadership Team, coordinated by former Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward.

Voters also passed on candidates who cast themselves as representatives of the ordinary citizen, including longshoreman Peter Conlogue, risk assessment professional Michael Murphy, and journeyman welder Rodney Wilkins.

Also not making the cut were anti-tax activists Thomas Arrington III and Gene Waters, a former council member, who were fierce council critics before they put their names in for office.

And despite lending his campaign more than $43,000, real estate broker John Henry Martin didn't crack the top five.

Chesapeake Port Authority official Burnie Mansfield also failed to win a seat.

Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com