CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Chesapeake Mayor Rick West has won reelection, fending off a challenger on city council.
With all precincts reporting, West secured 56% of the vote over Councilman Don Carey's 43.9%. As of Wednesday afternoon, provisional ballots are still outstanding.
West has been Chesapeake's mayor since 2018, but before that, he served on the city council for 10 years and was a teacher and principal within Chesapeake Public Schools for more than 20 years.
West has described himself as someone who can establish partnerships with others across the Hampton Roads region and Virginia.
“I think the whole thing is having leaders who you can trust, that they say what they mean and mean what they say,” West said to 13News Now in October.
This race was marked with some drama, as Carey faced lawsuits that claimed he was ineligible to campaign for mayor while still serving on the city council. The two suits were dismissed by a judge in September.
West's top issues include providing a quality education, public safety, and building the economy.
"People want to live in Chesapeake,” West said before the election. “People want to do business in Chesapeake, and my main objective is to keep it that way."
Mayor West released the following statement Wednesday night:
“I am so grateful to the citizens of Chesapeake for trusting me with their city once again. I ran on a platform of loving Chesapeake and wanting it to be the best city in the Commonwealth, and that’s just what I will strive for over the next four years. I will continue to fight to keep our economy booming, our schools first class, and our communities safe. I look forward to serving with our new city council member’s to make Chesapeake the best place to live, work, farm, and play!”