PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Three political newcomers are projected to win seats on Portsmouth City Council.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Yolanda Thomas, Kathryn Bryant, and William Dodson are leading a field of 11 candidates, including incumbents DeAndre Barnes and Mark Whitaker. All precincts have reported their results, but provisional ballots still need to be counted before the election is certified.
The resounding issue that the majority of candidates focused their campaigns around pertained to attracting and keeping future businesses in the city of Portsmouth, and avenues to deal with the city's growth while also addressing the poverty rate.
Current Portsmouth School Board member, Yolanda Edmonds Thomas, leads the crowded field with 15.91% of the vote. She identified her three priorities as creating clean and safe neighborhoods, investing in public education and economic development.
"I have a five-point plan because as we know crime is usually the root cause of other issues – so the five-point plan, that I've acknowledged on my website – you address crime by preventing crime detecting crime, and responding to crime. So my five-point plan: one, includes opening community precincts and social services outreach in high-crime, high-need areas."
Behind Thomas with 12.18% of the vote, is Children's ministry director, Kathryn "Kitty" Bryant, who says she will seek broad, far-reaching and meaningful ways to address the city's crime rate, and cultivate the city parks and recreational programming.
"We have heard a lot of negativity in campaigning and really what I would like to do is to bring positive energy back to city council and move us forward in a way that is optimistic and to build on the strengths that we already have. There are many wonderful things that we have going on in Portsmouth and I want to shift that energy to positive thinking and collaborative leadership," she previously told 13News Now.
Endontist, Dr. William Dodson, said he plans to bring accountability back to the city and increase economic development and prosperity. He secured 11.84% of the vote, beating out incumbent Councilman DeAndre Barnes by less than 200 votes.
"We don't have a culture in this city for measurement and transparency. It hasn't been there for many many many years." ... "If you can't measure it, you can't fix it. We need people with numbers," he previously to 13News Now.
