Crowded council slate in Beach faces busy summer

VIRGINIA BEACH

Holding the City Council election in November didn't dramatically reduce the number of candidates running for office, as some politicos had predicted.

But the 15 contestants - three fewer than 2006 - who filed for office last week do face an unprecedented playing field for the next five months.

For starters, voter turnout in a presidential election is historically more than four times that of a spring race.

Local candidates have five months to campaign now, not two.

Throw in technology, the cost of advertising and the creep of partisan politics, and it's anybody's guess as to how a summer campaign season works in Virginia Beach.

"These local candidates are basically the bottom feeders in a November election," said Quentin Kidd, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. "They've got to find enough food to eat, enough voters, in the context of all the elections going on. It's going to be a tough time."

There are advantages, too.

John Moss, a former councilman challenging Mayor Meyera Oberndorf, said he wouldn't have run in May, because incumbents are more difficult to beat in spring elections. Increased turnout, though, means new voters who have never cast ballots for local seats.

That's part of the reason both Virginia Beach and Suffolk moved their municipal and School Board elections to the fall.

"From the context of a democratic perspective, more people will participate... in picking Virginia Beach's leadership," Kidd said.

Attracting those voters may take record amounts of money.

Will Sessoms, a former vice mayor also challenging Oberndorf, is well on his way to raising $500,000. Several candidates mentioned the need for television spots, along with the usual door-to-door campaigning and newspaper advertisements.

Scott Taylor, another mayoral candidate, will add technology to the trail. He is on social and professional networking Web sites, has sent campaign notices over Evite, and has a blog.

"One of our main competitors has tremendous name recognition, and the other has a large purse," Taylor wrote in an e-mail. "We do not have the time nor resources to go head to head... so we'll utilize technology to go around them."

Glenn Davis, who is challenging incumbent Reba McClanan for the Rose Hall district seat, also is developing Facebook and MySpace pages.

"We're going to have to work twice as hard," Davis said. "One to make sure people know there's a City Council race going on and to get our name out there."

Davis said he is excited about the larger turnout expected in November. In 2004, just less than 17 percent of registered voters participated in the May elections, while nearly 67 percent showed up at the polls in November.

For candidates, that means uncertainty about the clout of traditional voting blocs, such as city workers and educators.

City Councilman Harry Diezel, a former fire chief, has counted on city employees to win in the past. That vote may be diluted by the wider electorate, but "I don't think it's unhealthy by any means," Diezel said.

Kenneth Pravetz, president of Virginia Beach Professional Firefighters, said public employees could still influence through endorsements since some voters may not take the time to sort through all the races on the ballot.

"When it comes down to local elections, people are interested in what the local public employees think," Pravetz said. "I think we can have just as much influence as in the past. I guess we'll see in November."

National and party politics may come into play in what technically are nonpartisan local races.

Black candidates for city offices, for instance, could get a lift from turnout for Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president who also is black, said Georgia Allen, the branch president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"I think it will be beneficial," said Allen, who is running for the at-large seat against four other candidates. "You're going to have to work hard. It's not a cake walk."

The Rev. Joe Flores, another black candidate, cautioned that nobody will win a Virginia Beach City Council seat by relying on just the black vote.

Presidential and congressional elections are highly partisan contests, and how that will affect the City Council race is unclear.

Local Republican Party officials are debating whether to endorse city candidates.

"The reality is that they are becoming more partisan, and that trend is accelerated by the movement of elections in November," said Gary Byler, the second district chairman of Virginia's Republican Party.

The Republican Party stepped into the local race, Byler said, when he discouraged former Councilman Don Weeks from challenging incumbent Bob Dyer for the Centerville district seat.

Some local Republicans view Dyer as a potential candidate for Del. Robert Tata's seat - should the popular state representative decide to step down - and didn't want him bruised in a City Council race.

"As the party gets more involved in the city elections, there's the ability to encourage some people and discourage other people," Byler said.

That's not necessarily a good thing, said Commissioner of Revenue Phil Kellam, a Democrat.

City Council members are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city, not pushing political perspectives, Kellam said.

"We're not talking about broad philosophy," Kellam said. "We're talking about who can run the shop the best. I hope we don't lose that."

One thing is certain, according to the Beach's voter registrar, Pat Harrington: "It's going to be exciting."

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com