The Virginia Beach City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Virginia Beach and its more than 450,000 citizens. It has 11 members that serve four-year terms and are elected on a staggered basis. General elections are held the Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years. All registered voters are eligible to vote for all members of City Council. Three Council Members and the Mayor serve "At Large" with no district residency requirement. All other Council Members are required to live in the districts they represent: Bayside, Beach, Centerville, Kempsville, Lynnhaven, Princess Anne, and Rose Hall. The Council holds regular meetings on alternate Tuesday evenings on the second floor of the Virginia Beach City Hall.
History Direct election of Mayor, 1988 Starting with the fall 1988 election, the city's mayor was chosen directly by voters. Previously, the mayor was appointed from among city council members elected to represent the city's various boroughs. In that election, Meyera Oberndorf became the city's first female mayor and first to be directly elected.
Election at large from districts, 1998 In 1998, Virginia Beach abolished its system of boroughs from which seven council members were elected and formed in their place seven new districts including Centerville, Kempsville, Rose Hall, Bayside, Lynnhaven, Beach, and Princess Anne. Candidates were required to be residents of the districts for which they ran, but all voting was at-large.
Elimination of at-large elections for districts: Holloway vs. City of Virginia Beach, 2020-22 On October 6, 2020, a trial began in federal court in Virginia Beach between residents Latasha Holloway and Georgia Allen and the City of Virginia Beach. Filing their lawsuit in 2017, the residents alleged that the city's process for electing members to the city council violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The lawsuit claimed that the system unlawfully diluted minority voting strength and denied minorities an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. That same day, the city council cancelled their regular meeting after council member John Moss tested positive for COVID-19. Two days later, it was announced that, due to the ongoing pandemic, council meetings would now be held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
In 2021, Virginia passed HB 2198, which prohibits local governments from using at-large voting for district elections.
Later in 2021, the trial court found that the city's at-large voting system violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of the Black, Asian and Hispanic minority groups, and ordered that the city adopt a different voting system.
The city worked with a special master, who developed a 10 district ward system, plus one at-large contest for Mayor, late in 2021. Ward candidates would be elected only by voters in the ward. The court ordered the adoption of that system.
In 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in a 2-1 opinion that because HB 2198 had already prevented the city from conducting any future City Council elections under the electoral system that Plaintiffs challenged, that the case was moot, and overturned the district court's ruling. The timing was such that the 10-ward system would still be used in 2022. In the future, it could be modified, but would have to meet both the requirements of both HB 2198, and the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits at large election systems if those systems impair the ability of minority groups to either elect candidates of their choice or to influence the outcome of an election.
Current council District Councilmember Took office Party At Large (Mayor) Bobby Dyer (Mayor) 2018 Republican1 David Hutcheson 2024 Democratic 2 Barbara Henley 2007 Democratic 3 Michael Berlucchi 2019 Republican 4 Amelia Ross-Hammond 2023 Democratic 5 Rosemary Wilson (Vice Mayor) 2001 Republican 6 Worth Remick 2023 Democratic 7 Cal "Cash" Jackson-Green 2025 Republican 8 Stacy Cummings 2025 Republican 9 Joash Schulman 2023 Democratic 10 Jennifer Rouse 2023 Democratic
Past councils 1963-1998 YearDistrict At Large(Mayor) At Large(A) At Large(B1) At Large(B2) 1Bayside 2Blackwater 3Kempsville 4Lynnhaven 5Princess Anne 6Pungo 7Virginia Beach1963 Mayors chosen internally fromamong council members Lawrence E. Marshall James E. Snyder Swindell Pollock James E. Darden S. Paul Brown Kenneth N. Whitehurst W. H. Kitchin, Jr.1964 Earl M. Tebault1965 A. L. Bonney1966 G. Dewey Simmons, Jr. 1967 J. Curtis Payne196819691970 Clarence A. Holland Donald H. Rhodes F. Reid Ervin Floyd E. Waterfield, Jr.1971 Robert H. Callis, Jr.1972 John A. Baum19731974J. Henry McCoy, Jr. John R. Griffin19751976 Roger L. Riggs19771978 Donald W. Merrick J. Curtis Payne Barbara M. Henley19791980 Reba S. McClanan W. H. Kitchin, III19811982 Louis R. Jones H. Jack Jennings19831984 Robert E. Fentress19851986 John Moss Albert W. Balko19871988 Meyera Oberndorf19891990 Robert W. Clyburn James W. Brazier, Jr. Paul J. Lanteigne19911992 Robert K. Dean Linwood O. Branch, III19931994 Louisa M. Strayhorn W. W. Harrison, Jr. Barbara M. Henley19951996 Reba S. McClanan19971998YearAt Large(Mayor) At Large(A) At Large(B1) At Large(B2) 1Bayside 2Blackwater 3Kempsville 4Lynnhaven 5Princess Anne 6Pungo 7Virginia BeachDistrict
1998-2022 YearDistrict At Large(Mayor) At Large(A) At Large(B1) At Large(B2) 1Centerville 2Kempsville 3Rose Hall 4Bayside 5Lynnhaven 6Beach 7Princess Anne1998 Meyera Oberndorf Harold Heischober Will Sessoms Margaret L. Eure A. M. "Don" Weeks Reba S. McClanan Louis R. Jones W. W. Harrison, Jr. Linwood O. Branch, III Barbara M. Henley19992000 John A. Baum Robert C. Mandigo, Jr.2001 Rosemary Wilson2002 Ron Villanueva Peter W. Schmidt James L. Wood Richard A. Maddox Jim Reeve2003 Harry E. Diezel2004 Bobby Dyer20052006 Bill DeSteph John E. Uhrin Barbara M. Henley200720082009 Will Sessoms Glenn Davis2010 Rita Sweet Bellitto2011 Prescott Sherrod2012 John Moss2013 Amelia N. Ross-Hammond2014 Brad Martin Shannon Kane2015 M. Ben Davenport20162017 Jessica P. Abbott2018 Bobby Dyer Sabrina Wooten2019 Aaron Rouse Michael Berlucchi David Nygaard2020 Guy Tower2021 Rocky Holcomb Linwood O. Branch, III2022 Delceno MilesYear At Large(Mayor) At Large(A) At Large(B1) At Large(B2) 1Centerville 2Kempsville 3Rose Hall 4Bayside 5Lynnhaven 6Beach 7Princess AnneDistrict
2023-Present YearDistrict At Large(Mayor) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 102023 Bobby Dyer Rocky Holcomb Barbara M. Henley Michael Berlucchi Amelia N. Ross-Hammond Rosemary Wilson Worth Remick Sabrina Wooten Chris Taylor Joash Schulman Jennifer Rouse2024 David Hutcheson2025 Cash Jackson-GreenStacy Cummings
Election results 2020 general election
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