Virginia Beach Mayor’s Race: Follow The Money

By James C. Sherlock

Campaign donations are very one sided so far in the upcoming Virginia Beach mayoral race. 

Fish gotta swim. And Mayor Bobby Dyer is running for re-election in November.  

As the first directly elected mayor in city history in 2017 Dyer has been a reliable affirmative vote for the millions awarded to the developer team in the controversial Atlantic Park project.  

 The developer crowd, knowing a sure bet when they see one, is all in for Bobby.  

His campaign has raised $218,000. More than half (53%) of Mr. Dyer’s total donations from 2021 forward have come from the real estate/construction sector.  More than $203,000 of that money has come in donations of $1,000 or more.  Of his individual donors in those years, 21 of 32 who have given between $2000 and $16,000 are in that sector.

 Long-time Councilman John Moss who lost his seat in 2022 is also running. He opposed both the city’s methods and its outsized investments in Atlantic Park.  He is running against projects like Atlantic Park.

 Watch his videos under “special interests will not get my vote.”   They will tell you things you may not know about both Atlantic Park and the pending Compass project.

 Of Mr. Moss’ top ten donors, only one is in the real estate/construction sector.  That sector has provided 13% of Moss for Virginia Beach donations. Moss has raised a total of $20,644.

 First-year Councilman Chris Taylor is in the race.  He had raised $22,425 at last report.  Forty two percent of Mr. Taylor’s donations since his initial race for Council in 2022 have been from the real estate/construction sector.  

 Mr. Taylor also reports a big chunk of money, most of it this year, from people whose industry sector is listed as “undetermined.”  He is politically ambitious, but he will want to clear that up.

 The other two candidates are running from the political left.

 Current Councilwoman Sabrina Wooten is on the ballot.  Of her $28,515 in donations,  several donors from real-estate/ construction interests donated a little over $8,000 each.

 Former Democratic Delegate Cheryl Turpin is in the race.  She announced in May and moved money from her previous campaign accounts to run for mayor. The website at the link, like her campaign money, is left over from a previous race. Turpin’s total campaign funds amount to just $12,234, according to VPAP.

 Bottom line:  If money decides this election, Bobby Dyer will be mayor again. The developer gravy train will roll on.

 If John Moss wins, we will know that Virginia Beach voters are paying attention and want no more multi-hundred-million dollar giveaways.

James Sherlock is a retired Navy captain living in Virginia Beach and a frequent contributor to baconsrebellion.com.  The opinions in this post are his.