Field growing, perhaps to eight, for Suffolk mayoral candidates

Posted to: Elections Suffolk

The candidates
In the race for mayor, the registrar’s office had already certified the 500 signatures necessary for official candidacy for five people as of Tuesday.
- Linda Johnson, a real estate agent, who was first elected to the council in 2000.
- Andy Damiani, a downtown businessman and former councilman.
- Tom Powell Jr., owner of his own advertising agency.
- Mike Debranski, a former principal and current school board member.
- Dwight Nixon, a pastor who serves on the Economic Development Authority board.
- Roger Leonard, a businessman and outspoken city hall critic, has also turned in his signatures and is expected to be certified soon.
- Deborah Wahlstrom, a former teacher who runs a software company that analyzes student achievement, said she plans to turn in her signatures next week.
- The eighth potential candidate, attorney Ira Steingold, said Tuesday he was still gathering signatures and hopes to make the filing deadline.

The Virginian-Pilot
© June 4, 2008

SUFFOLK

The crowd of challengers vying to be the first elected mayor continues to grow as the June 10 filing deadline nears.

Five people are certified as official candidates, a sixth is almost there, and two others said they plan to turn in signatures before the deadline.

The group will compete in November to be Suffolk’s first elected mayor. Until now, the City Council has appointed someone from its own ranks to hold the title. The change will add an eighth vote to the council.

Also shaping up are races for three council seats, two of which will feature challenges against incumbents.

In the Whaleyville Borough, Vice Mayor Curtis Milteer Sr., who was first elected in 1980, will seek his eighth four-year term against Jay Quigley.

Quigley, a former Suffolk police officer, unsuccessfully challenged Milteer in 2000.

“I want to see some accountability with our money,” Quigley said.

In the Nansemond Borough, Trisha M. James, an insurance agent, will try to unseat Councilman Leroy Bennett .

“I have a lot of energy,” said James . “Every once in a while, you need a fresh perspective on things.”

The third council seat up for election is in the fast-growing Sleepy Hole Borough in northern Suffolk. So far it has attracted only one candidate.

Robert Barclay IV, a lawyer, announced his candidacy Tuesday to a crowd of about 75 people . Mayor Linda Johnson opted to run for the new at-large mayor’s seat instead.

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

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