SUFFOLK, Va. — Incumbent mayor Michael Duman is leading in his race for reelection.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, Duman was winning by 68 votes over challenger Clinton Jenkins. A third challenger, David Bosselman, was also close on their heels.
Provisional votes have yet to be counted by the end of the week. As of Tuesday, however, Duman was up by 34.69%, compared to 34.55% for Jenkins to 30.46% for Bosselman.
Growth management was the story of the Suffolk mayoral election this year. Each of the candidates presented different visions for how they believe the city should manage its rising population, additional businesses, burgeoning traffic issues, and more.
Duman, a car dealership owner, was running for his second term as mayor after serving on the council since 2010. He said the growth had provided a stable tax base for citizens and allowed the city to attract new opportunities.
However, the former state delegate, Clinton Jenkins, said Suffolk needs to do more work to make living here affordable and deal with infrastructure and traffic, ensuring they keep up with growth.
And farmer David Bosselman maintained during the campaign that the constant growth had caused overdevelopment and a strain on the community and infrastructure.
Click here for more on all of Tuesday's elections across the area.
