PORTSMOUTH — For the past six months, an alliance of four has largely controlled the seven-member Portsmouth City Council.
It abruptly fired then-City Manager Angel Jones in May and quickly replaced her with the former police chief, to the frustration of other council members and confusion of many in the community.
But that alliance has been fractured. Two of those members — Paul Battle and Christopher Woodard — lost their seats in Tuesday’s election, in no small part because a powerful Black political group in Portsmouth turned its back on them and, in a rare move, put its weight behind a white candidate. Now that group hopes its decision to choose unity over race will be the first step in putting the divided city on a path to healing.
In a majority-Black city marred by a long history of racial division, the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Steering Committee has traditionally backed Black candidates in hopes of dismantling an often dominant white power structure. But in this election, the committee decided to endorse retired Navy rear admiral Mark Hugel, who’s white, and Portsmouth School Board member Vernon Tillage Jr., who’s Black.
Rev. Milton Blount, who leads the MLK committee, said it was meant to send a message of unity. He said members weren’t happy about the council majority ousting Jones and choosing her replacement without input from other council members, and that the public’s dissatisfaction with that process united the Black and white communities against those four council members.
“Both the Black and white community came together and said, ‘We’ve got to do something,’” he said, “(In) the past, our focus has been identifying in engaging and endorsing qualified African Americans to serve. We were certainly focused this time around in terms of having a non-African American on the ticket to bring balance into the city.”
The MLK committee vetted Hugel in his first run for office in 2020, but he didn’t receive enough votes from executive committee for an endorsement, Blount said. He credited Hugel with having a “proven track record” due to decades of leadership experience from the Navy and as a shipyard commander.
Hugel told The Virginian-Pilot the committee’s endorsement aligned with his message of unity, which he said crossed political boundaries. He also had the backing of the Portsmouth Republican Party.
Hugel said he’s aware of the unstable environment that plagues the the City Council. But throughout his military career, he’s dealt with differing agendas.
“This isn’t the first time that I’ve walked into a prickly situation,” he said. “What I’ve learned in the past is that it starts with doing your homework. If you’re personally informed about the facts, and if during either behind closed door meetings or public meetings you’re armed with the facts, then it’s kind of hard to argue away from the facts.”
It’s not the first time the committee has endorsed a white candidate. It backed Nathan Clark in his first run for City Council in 2016, but didn’t champion his subsequent election bids, including this year’s, because he wasn’t open to some of the suggestions the committee shared with him during his term, Blount said.
An unwillingness to hear concerns and consider compromises, or not having “an attitude of collaboration,” Blount said, can prompt the committee to turn its back on candidates it once endorsed, including Battle. The committee endorsed him in 2016 and 2018.
When reached by phone Thursday, Battle said “the citizens spoke” during Tuesday’s election.
“I respect their choice,” Battle said in a brief interview. “Those folks who were elected, I’m with them. God bless them, and I want the best for our city.”
The committee’s dissatisfaction with the alliance also prompted it to use its political sway against Vice Mayor De’Andre Barnes and Councilman Mark Whitaker, the two other members that ousted Jones.
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The committee in June held a news conference with another civic group to signal its support of a recall petition against Barnes and Whitaker.
The MLK committee supported Whitaker during his efforts in 2020 to get back on council after being removed due to his conviction on three felony forgery charges in 2018. Whitaker received an absolute pardon for the conviction earlier this year.
“I feel like they just lost their way, and that there had to be an appropriate response,” Blount said, referring to the council alliance. “And that was to identify somebody else who could come in and get the city on track and work with the mayor, work with Councilman (Bill) Moody, work with Councilwoman (Lisa Lucas-Burke) in order to bring balance to the city and to ensure that our city would have a bright future and it’s moving in the direction that is essential for it to move in.”
Reached by phone Thursday, Woodard told The Pilot he believes the committee’s endorsement of Hugel and Tillage could have influenced some voters who may not be as informed. He doubled down on his and Battle’s accomplishments, emphasizing that they helped get pay increases and bonuses for city and school employees and local law enforcement.
Woodard said he was still proud of finishing fourth despite not having powerful endorsements or donations, and amid the recent lawsuit from Jones that alleged he, Battle and Barnes received bribes in connection with job openings or city projects that would require a council vote.
“Portsmouth is a tight-knit community. (Residents) want people who come to their communities,” Woodard said. “And I don’t think we got that with the leadership that will be coming in. But congratulations to them.”
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
