VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Three candidates are running in a special election Tuesday for Virginia Beach’s new District 1 seat.

The district is on the western end of the city, partly on the Chesapeake line, stretching from Providence Road and Indian River Road on the western side to South Independence Boulevard to the east. It’s one of the 10 districts of approximately 46,000 people created under Virginia Beach’s new voting system.

It had been represented by Rocky Holcomb, who won a special election race in 2022. However, he had to step down from his seat this fall to take over for former Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle.

Three candidates are running to fill the seat — former Virginia Beach Fire Chief David W. “Hutch” Hutcheson, attorney John Napier and retired civil service worker Teresa Gladney. Napier and Gladney are running as Republicans, while Hutcheson is running as an independent.

All grew up in Virginia Beach and say they’re excited to be able to serve at the local level.

Each listed public safety, support for education and infrastructure improvements such as flood mitigation among their top priorities, but they differ on some big issues like proposed collective bargaining for the city’s public sector workers. Portsmouth approved collective bargaining in its city in 2023.

Both Napier and Gladney said they’d be opposed to collective bargaining.

“I’m all for supporting getting the best pay and equipment and total support for our firefighters, our police, our teachers and everything, and yet I would not be for collective bargaining in the city of Virginia Beach,” said Napier, a 43-year-old Kempsville native and land use attorney and mediator.

He got the endorsement of several high-profile Republicans, including Attorney General Jason Miyares, Rep. Jen Kiggans, Delegate Barry Knight and Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle.

John Napier’s top issues

  • Lower the cost of living (lower taxes, expand job opportunities)
  • Facilitate quality, affordable home ownership
  • Increasing pay for public safety (without collective bargaining)

Napier thinks the city’s current step pay plan is sufficient.

“I think that’s a great plan, it’s done a lot for the city as far as retention … I’m always open, again as a mediator, I’m always open to a dialogue. So I want to make sure there’s a great dialogue between all the offices and the city council,” Napier said.

Gladney said it’s a non-starter.

“I adamantly oppose collective bargaining for several reasons … workers should not be compelled to join a union to hold a job … collective bargaining with unions, they influence policies, increase government spending, and we need to send a clear message to Virginia that Virginia’s open for business,” said Gladney, a 59-year-old Bayside High School graduate who grew up in Aragona Village.

On the other hand, Hutcheson, who served for 35 years with the Virginia Beach Fire Department before his retirement in 2022, touts endorsements from array of local unions, from police and firefighters to the Virginia Education Association and Teamsters. He’s open to exploring the next steps based on findings from Virginia Beach’s task force on collective bargaining.

“I think it’s kinda closed-minded to say you’re opposed already. They haven’t even sat in the seat and looked it over,” Hutcheson said. “… I think you want to take in a bunch of information, talk about it with a bunch of smart people, from city staff to the rest of the council, and then formulate a plan on what’s best for Virginia Beach.”

David’s Hutcheson’s priorities

  • “Public safety excellence”
  • Supporting education
  • Infrastructure (particularly flooding)

Overall, Hutcheson says with all things city employment it comes down to: “are we paying a fair wage? And then number two is there fair housing that they can afford? … I had more and more firefighters over my last couple of years moving not just outside the city, but way outside the city to places like Moyock, Isle of Wight … it’s across all city agencies, not just police and fire.”

Hutcheson, 57, is running as an independent but says “this shouldn’t be a partisan race … and I’m not trying to use this as a stepping stone, I’m gonna serve this term and the next term and then I’d look at it strongly to see if I could go on from there … I’m four doors from the house I grew up in 1977, Woodstock Road, I was a Woodstock Woodchuck.”

He also lists access to mental health services and protecting green spaces among his top issues. That includes completing the Virginia Beach Trail, a 12-mile pedestrian path spanning the width of the city to the Oceanfront.

He’s excited for “all kinds of pluses with that,” including small businesses that could pop up along the trail and safety.

“Think about it, the pedestrian bridge over Independence,” Hutcheson said. “There’s umpteen calls for service where people have been hit, bike, walkers, so that will help with that immensely.”

Teresa Gladney’s priorities

  • Promoting economic growth (pro-business policies via GSA)
  • Flood mitigation
  • Traffic calming measures

Gladney says “for me it’s about civic responsibility, serving the needs of the citizens …”

She says one of those needs has been traffic calming, something she’s listed as a priority.

“Specifically in the Queen City [area of the city] they have grave concerns about the safety of the children, the elderly and the disabled. They’ve expressed concerns that they’ve been speaking with city officials for years trying to get some kind of traffic calming measure in that neighborhood but it’s kind of fell on deaf ears.”

She pointed to other issues on Whitehurst Landing Road (speeding), Providence Road and in her neighborhood on Taylor Road, where a four-way stop is needed to curb speeders, she says.

“In every neighborhood I’ve spoken with voters, they’ve expressed concerns with speeders, particularly the hours you pick up the children.”

Another big topic coming this spring: Virginia Beach’s budget and taxes.

Napier says he’s looking at the possibility of lower real estate and personal property taxes.

“I definitely think we need to do whatever we can to reduce if not eliminate the car tax in Virginia Beach, I think that’s one personal property tax that needs to go … then on the real estate tax side that’s gonna be, I think we have room and opportunity to reduce that … and making sure we still fund our core services, but reduce that tax burden for citizens of Virginia Beach.”

Early voting in this race started back on Wednesday, Nov. 29, and only people who live inside the District 1 footprint can vote. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., and you find your polling place here.