Virginia Beach mayor, four council incumbents win re-election

Virginia Beach — The mayor and four incumbent council members won their re-election bids early Wednesday morning.

Mayor Bobby Dyer and three other incumbents led their races from the beginning, but Councilwoman Sabrina Wooten came from behind after midnight when early voting and absentee ballots were reported.

Around 12:30 a.m., election officials divulged the results of more than 100,000 ballots cast by mail or in person before Election Day.

Though all votes have not been counted yet, the leading candidates were far ahead of their challengers. Shortly before 1 a.m., the election’s office reported the following results:

• In the mayoral race between Dyer, Jody Wagner and Richard Richard “R.K.” Kowalewitch, Dyer led with 110,659 votes, while Wagner, a popcorn company owner, had 93,333 and Kowalewitch, a homebuilder, had 9,130.
• In the Centerville race, Wooten led with 102,689 votes, and Eric Wray, a funeral director, had 83,662. Wooten has held the position for two years.
• In the at-large race, Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson had 108,375 votes, Brandon Hutchins, a network support consultant for a health care company, had 71,393, and Nadine Paniccia, an advertising sales executive, had 20,744. Wilson has held an at-large council seat since 2000.
• In the Rose Hall district, Councilman Michael Berlucchi had 105,630 votes, Conrad Schesventer, a hotel worker, had 50,883, and Garry Hubbard, a construction contractor, had 26,443.
• In the race to represent Kempsville, Councilwoman Jessica Abbott had 115,933 votes, while Bill Dale, a financial advisor, had 69,871.

Election Day went smoothly, and wait times were minimal or nonexistent, said Julie Hill, a spokeswoman for Virginia Beach. Election workers return to work on Wednesday to continue processing ballots. Nearly 9,500 ballots that were already mailed to residents could be returned by Friday at noon, as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day. The city expects voter turnout to reach 80 percent of all registered voters.

Candidates usually throw large election night parties for their supporters, but that wasn’t the case Tuesday. Some of the Republican candidates — including Dyer, Wilson and Wray — planned to attend a watch party at the Westin Hotel in Town Center. But fewer candidates gathered due to the coronavirus pandemic and chose to be with family and friends to mark the end of the campaign.

Brandon Hutchins, one of Wilson’s challengers, planned to gather with a few people in The Shack at the Oceanfront after a long day. His father passed away Monday night at a cancer center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hutchins made the round trip late Monday, then slept for a couple of hours before arriving at a polling station before voting began Tuesday morning.

“He didn’t want me to stop,” Hutchins said of his father. “If you want it, you got to fight for it.”

Alissa Skelton, 757-995-9043, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com.