John Moss concedes in Virginia Beach City Council race
With nearly all ballots accounted for in Virginia Beach, it appears two City Council members — John Moss and Linwood Branch — have lost their seats.
Moss, who has served on the council for 18 years, conceded to opponent Joash Schulman Wednesday morning in a post on Facebook.
“I fully expect Mr. Shulman (sic) to be certified the winner of the District 9 seat on City Council when the yet uncounted votes are counted,” Moss, 68, posted.
When reached by phone Wednesday morning, Moss said, “We ran a good race. The people have spoken, and I’m comfortable with that.”
Schulman, 43, an attorney, has 5,877 votes to 5,547 for Moss. Post-election absentee and provisional ballots remained to be counted in all of the council races as of Wednesday morning.
In District 6, after trailing for much of the night, candidate Worth Remick, 62, overcame Councilman Linwood Branch, 67, a hotelier who was appointed in 2021. Remick holds a lead of nearly 200 votes, with 6,820 votes to Branch’s 6,625. The district includes part of the resort area, the Seatack neighborhood and the North End.
Remick claimed victory Wednesday morning.
“I worked very hard, knocked on a lot of doors,” Remick said. “I’m looking forward to serving.”
Longtime councilwoman Barbara Henley, 80, had been neck and neck with Nanette Miller, 65, a retired U.S. Navy commander; and Elaine Fekete, 59, a realtor; in District 2, which encompasses the southern part of the city. But Henley eventually pulled into the lead with 5,875 votes, while Fekete moved into the second slot with 4,839.
In District 8, which covers most of the Great Neck Road corridor and Kings Grant, newcomer Chris Taylor, 38, leads with 42% of the vote. One of Taylor’s priorities on the campaign trail was to lower the tax burden on business owners. He is co-owner of a local chain of Smoothie Stop Cafe stores.
Candidate Jennifer Rouse, 36, an assistant professor at Tidewater Community College and wife of Councilman Aaron Rouse, is leading by more than 1,000 votes over opponent Heidi Daniels in District 10 near the center of Virginia Beach. Aaron Rouse didn’t seek reelection to pursue a seat in the Virginia State Senate.
Daniels had received a last-minute campaign fundraising boost of $50,000 from the Virginia Beach Police Benevolent Association, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Celebrity and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams endorsed Rouse on social media Tuesday morning with the hashtag #changeisgood.
A special election was held in District 1, where Rocky Holcomb, 54, chief deputy of the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office and a former state delegate, has a significant lead over Melissa Peck with nearly 57% of the vote.
Amelia Ross-Hammond, former Virginia Beach Councilmember, ran unopposed in District 4.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
