Chesapeake sizes up pros, cons of Nov. elections

CHESAPEAKE

The turnout in this year's City Council election was the lowest of any council race in at least the past six years, 16.3 percent.

Yet there doesn't seem to be any appetite to move Chesapeake's local elections from May to November, an action taken in recent years in Virginia Beach and Suffolk.

Democrats and Republicans in Chesapeake agree that moving the May elections to November could increase turnout. B ut it could also mean that local candidates would get lost in a cloud of state and national issues, and it could make running for office a lot more expensive.

"The good news is, you'd get more people to the polls," said Pete Burk-himer, chairman of the Chesapeake Republican Party. "But do they come to the polls better informed, or do they just flip a coin for the local races?"

Others worried that moving City Council and School Board elections to November would force local candidates to raise thousands more in campaign cash, and would ultimately lead voters to choose their City Council or School Board members based on party affiliation rather than their ideas.

"It would immediately turn partisan," said Councilman C.E. "Cliff" Hayes Jr., chairman of the Chesapeake Democratic Committee.

Low turnout for Chesapeake's May elections is nothing new. About 22.6 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the 2004 mayoral and council elections.

That figure dropped to 17.2 percent in the 2006 council race and was at about 18.1 percent in the 2008 mayoral and council election.

Compare that with Chesapeake's turnout of about 75 percent in the November 2008 election, which featured the presidential race along with two congressional contests.

Aside from this being a quiet election, Burkhimer said, he's not sure why turnout was at its lowest in recent years.

"I'm not (Virginia political analyst) Larry Sabato, so I don't have a good answer for you," he said.

Chesapeake Mayor Alan Krasnoff said the declining turnout may be a function of the growing number of registered voters. That number has increased to 142,362 from 119,368 in 2004.

"The turnout will naturally decline and probably always will in Chesapeake," Krasnoff said. "That is the reality, because the base of registered voters is getting larger."

Krasnoff said he would oppose moving the election at this point, citing the 2008 Virginia Beach mayoral race in which Mayor Will Sessoms raised more than $600,000 in campaign money. Chesapeake candidates typically raise less than $100,000.

"Elections should be about ideas and not how much money you can raise," Krasnoff said.

There appears to be little talk of a switch in Norfolk and Portsmouth, which both had elections last week.

"I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing at all," Portsmouth Councilman Steve Heretick said.

"When we're way down the ticket under the presidential or gubernatorial race, I hate to say it, but City Council and School Board become an afterthought."

Pilot writers Dave Forster and Harry Minium contributed to this report.

Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com the turnout for this year's City Council elections, compared with the 75 percent turnout in the November 2008 presidential election.