6/13 primary: Norfolk’s Commonwealth’s Attorney

When Norfolk voters head to the polls Tuesday, they will first be asked to choose either a Democratic or Republican ballot. Both parties are holding primaries for governor and lieutenant governor. The ballots for Democratic voters in the 83rd or 89th House of Delegates district will include candidates for the party's nomination in those races …

ALERT: SB 1487 action needed today

If you've been following the saga of Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot, then you know that some serious change needs to be made to the laws in Virginia which allow him to stay in office while appealing his felony convictions. A house bill addressing the situation - automatic suspension from office upon conviction - was discussed …

Catching up

It's been a while since I posted anything about my columns in The Virginian-Pilot - mainly because it's been a while since I wrote anything! I see the last post I did was in May 2015! It hasn't been that long since I wrote anything but life kinda got busy. And then when I tried …

Burfoot is toast

The shocking indictment (pdf) and surprise guilty plea of Norfolk developer Ronnie Boone virtually guarantees that Anthony Burfoot, current Norfolk Treasurer and former council member, is going to jail. Burfoot's trial is scheduled to start on November 7. Wanna bet he pleads out before then? In exchange, of course, for identifying and giving dirt on …

Norfolk Ward 1 special election TOMORROW

If you live in Ward 1 in Norfolk (green area on attached map), there is a special election tomorrow, Tuesday, August 23. There will be just one name on the ballot - Martin Thomas, Jr. - but there is a write-in candidate. The polls will be open normal hours and ballots are cast at your …

5th District: Spruill wins

Last Saturday, Democrats in the 5th Senate district participated in a firehouse primary to select the party's nominee. Chesapeake Del. Lionell Spruill, Sr. was the winner, besting Norfolk Del. Joe Lindsey by a wide margin - 68% to 32%. As noted previously, this contest just determined the party's nominee, as the filing deadline for a …

Norfolk May 2016 election: by the numbers

While it has been a while, I still think a look at the Norfolk election numbers is relevant, at least for future reference. I usually try my hand at predicting overall turnout as well as precinct-by-precinct turnout for each of Norfolk's elections. Most of the time, my numbers are pretty close - sometimes, within 2 …

Election results

It was quite an interesting night across Hampton Roads!  While my election night focus was on Norfolk's results, there were contests in other cities as well. Norfolk I'll have another post on this later. The turnout was WAY above what I expected, not to mention where it came from. Congratulations to Mayor-elect Kenny Alexander, Councilwoman-elect …

Vote today!

Norfolk voters have an opportunity today to remake council in a way that we have not seen in decades. We will choose three council members - one for each superward and the mayor - with a fourth member coming shortly in a special election. That is exactly half of the council. If all four a …

This ‘n that

I keep hoping that I will find the time - and the mental space - to do some serious writing again. In the meantime, a few random thoughts: Confederate flags should be removed from public property. I made the argument years ago that the "heritage not hate" camp needed to choose a flag other than …