VIRGINIA BEACH

Leaders in the black community are convinced the city’s voting system is keeping their candidates from winning a seat on City Council.

In a city where about 20 percent of 433,000 residents are black, only two have been elected in its 35-year history – John L. Perry in the 1980s and Louisa Strayhorn (1994- 98).

VIRGINIA BEACH

A final, unofficial count of votes released this afternoon confirmed Will Sessoms unseated longtime Mayor Meyera Oberndorf by 6,843 votes.

The results showed 200,754 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, a turnout of nearly 70 percent of the city’s registered voters.

Sessoms garnered 74,305 votes, compared with Oberndorf’s 67,462.

UPDATE: At about 7:00 p.m. today, the counting of absentee votes continued. Pat Harrington, the city's registrar, would not speculate on when it might be completed.

VIRGINIA BEACH

VIRGINIA BEACH

Meyera Oberndorf’s two-decade reign as mayor came to an end Tuesday.

At a press conference in Virginia Beach on Wednesday afternoon, Oberndorf conceded the race to challenger Will Sessoms.

With all but the absentee ballots counted, Oberndorf was down 10,000 votes to Will Sessoms. Oberndorf said earlier in the morning that she wanted all the votes counted.

VIRGINIA BEACH With about 94 of 95 precincts counted in Virginia Beach this morning, Reba McClanan – first elected to city council 28 years ago – has lost her Rose Hall district seat to Glenn Davis. 

VIRGINIA BEACH 

Voters on Tuesday apparently swept one incumbent off the School Board and ushered in two newcomers. The results are unofficial, based on 94 of 95 city precincts that had been counted this morning.  

A voting precinct chief in Virginia Beach has been removed after arriving several hours later than required, an electoral board official said. Voting was delayed almost half an hour at the Seatack precinct. The precinct chief, who showed up late, is no longer working at the station, said Tim Barrow, vice chairman of the Virginia Beach Electoral Board.

VIRGINIA BEACH Workers for mayoral candidate Will Sessoms passed out fliers Tuesday aimed at black voters that said, "Obama for President, Sessoms for Virginia Beach Mayor." Yet Sessoms said he planned to vote for John McCain and has given money to his campaign. By 3 p.m., Sessoms' campaign stopped distributing the fliers.

VIRGINIA BEACH When an election is held in November, it appears difficult to keep party affiliations out of what are supposed to be nonpartisan local races. All four mayoral candidates in Virginia Beach say their message is nonpartisan and they're asking for votes from all political camps.

VIRGINIA BEACH Councilwoman Reba McClanan is facing her first challenge since 1996, and the campaign to represent the Rose Hall district has grown testy. In the only one-on-one City Council race in Virginia Beach, McClanan, 70, is up against Glenn Davis, 34.