Elections in Virginia |
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Mayoral elections in Virginia Beach are held every four years to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach.
All Virginia Beach municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but most candidates can be affiliated with political parties. Virginia Beach uses a plurality voting system, with no possibility of runoffs.
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The 2008 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 4, 2008, to elect the next mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Meyera Oberndorf lost re-election to Republican candidate Will Sessoms (ending Oberndorf's two-decade tenure as the city's mayor). [1]
Will Sessoms was endorsed by Doug McCain, who is a Virginia Beach resident and John McCain's son. [2] [3] By December 31, 2007, Sessoms had a US$321,000 to $5,600 fundraising edge. [4]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Nonpartisan | Will Sessoms | 74,394 | 38.97 | |
Nonpartisan | Meyera Oberndorf | 67,551 | 35.38 | |
Nonpartisan | John D. Moss | 29,542 | 15.47 | |
Nonpartisan | Scott Taylor | 19,165 | 10.04 | |
Write-in | 262 | 0.14 | ||
Total votes | 190,914 |
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The 2012 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 6, 2012, to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Will Sessoms won re-election with 69.01% of the vote. [6] [7]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Nonpartisan | Will Sessoms | 124,263 | 69.01 | |
Nonpartisan | Richard W. “RK” Kowalewitch | 34,145 | 18.96 | |
Nonpartisan | Walter W. Erb | 20,763 | 11.53 | |
Write-in | 906 | 0.50 | ||
Total votes | 180,077 |
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The 2016 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the nayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Will Sessoms ran for a third term. [9] He was re-elected with 54.1% of the vote. [10] [11]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Nonpartisan | Will Sessoms | 101,251 | 54.1 | |
Nonpartisan | Richard W. "RK" Kowalewitch | 36,329 | 19.41 | |
Nonpartisan | A. M. "Don" Weeks | 34,449 | 18.41 | |
Nonpartisan | George Furman III | 14,238 | 7.61 | |
Write-in | 898 | 0.48 | ||
Total votes | 187,307 |
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The 2018 Virginia Beach mayoral special election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next mayor of Virginia Beach. concurrently with various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican mayor Will Sessoms resigned, which led to the special election. [13] Republican candidate Bobby Dyer defeated Democratic candidate M. Ben Davenport with 51.80% of the vote. [14] [15]
Dyer was a physical therapist as well as a professor of government at Regent University, [16] [17] and M. Ben Davenport had served as an at-large member of the Virginia Beach City Council since 2015. [18]
Dyer won despite being outspent by Davenport 5 to 1. [19]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Nonpartisan | Bobby Dyer | 82,201 | 51.80 | |
Nonpartisan | M. Ben Davenport | 75,693 | 47.70 | |
Write-in | 789 | 0.50 | ||
Total votes | 158,683 | 100.00 |
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Results by precinct Dyer: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Wagner: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The 2020 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 3, 2020, to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Bobby Dyer defeated Democrat Jody Wagner, who was the former Virginia Secretary of Finance and Virginia State Treasurer, with 51.64% of the vote.
Bobby Dyer was first elected in a 2018 special election held due to the resignation of Mayor Will Sessoms. [13]
On February 27, 2020, city council member Aaron Rouse announced his intention to seek office. When reached by The Virginian-Pilot for comment on the announcement, Bobby Dyer confirmed that he would be seeking re-election. [21] On May 30, 2020, Rouse announced that he was dropping out of the race citing the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for ending his campaign. [22] On June 9, 2020, former Virginia Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner announced that she would challenge Dyer in the upcoming election. [23] On June 12, 2020, businessman Richard W. "RK" Kowalewitch announced that he would also challenge Dyer. [24]
On October 8, 2020, the Virginia Beach Forum conducted a series of interviews with Dyer, Wagner, and Kowalewitch. [25]
On November 4, 2020, results confirmed that Dyer had won the election and been reelected to a second term. [26] That morning, Wagner conceded to Dyer, saying in a statement that they "both agreed that what our city needs right now is unity, and I look forward to working with him to move our city forward and address the critical challenges we face. While I am disappointed in the outcome of the election, I am incredibly grateful for the support from friends, family, and our entire community." [27]
Candidate | Experience | Logo | Campaign announced | Party [a] | Refs | |
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Bobby Dyer |
| (Website) | February 27, 2020 | Republican | [21] [28] | |
Jody Wagner |
| (Website) | June 9, 2020 | Democratic | [23] [28] | |
Richard "RK" Kowalewitch |
| June 12, 2020 | Republican | [24] [28] | ||
Candidate | Experience | Logo | Campaign announced | Campaign suspended | Party [a] | Refs | |
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Aaron Rouse |
| (Website) | February 27, 2020 | May 30, 2020 | Democratic Party | [21] [22] | |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Nonpartisan | Bobby Dyer (incumbent) | 113,567 | 51.64 | |
Nonpartisan | Jody Wagner | 96,400 | 43.83 | |
Nonpartisan | Richard W. "RK" Kowalewitch | 9,570 | 4.35 | |
Write-in | 387 | 0.18 | ||
Total votes | 219,924 | 100 |
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Elections in Virginia |
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The 2024 Virginia Beach mayoral election will take place on November 5, 2024, to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Bobby Dyer announced his re-election bid in 2023. [68] [69]
The mayoral election will take place alongside other 2024 Virginia Beach elections, including races for City Council.
Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Bobby Dyer (Incumbent) | 88,975 | 40.94% | |
Sabrina Wooten | 68,987 | 31.74% | |
John Moss | 36,553 | 17.1% | |
Chris Taylor | 16,767 | 7.71% | |
Richard Kowalewitch | 5,369 | 2.47% | |
Write-In | 685 | 0.32% | |
Total votes | 217,336 | 100.00 |
Jody Moses Wagner is an American politician from Virginia Beach, Virginia. A Democrat, she served as State Treasurer of Virginia from January 2002 to January 2006, and as Virginia Secretary of Finance in the Cabinet of Governor Tim Kaine from January 2006 to August 2008. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Virginia's 2nd congressional district in the 2000 election She was the Democratic Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in the 2009 election, and was defeated by Republican incumbent Bill Bolling.
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William Douglas Sessoms Jr. is an American politician and bank officer who served as the mayor of Virginia Beach, Virginia from 2008 until his resignation in April, 2018. He was president and CEO of Towne Financial Services Group, a division of TowneBank of Hampton Roads, Virginia from 2011 to 2014.
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