PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth’s mayoral election is a little less than a year away, but one familiar face has already announced she will be joining the race.
Portsmouth Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke told supporters she plans to leave her current city council position and instead join the mayoral race for 2024. She is the first person to say she will run against the city’s current mayor, Shannon Glover.
“I did not make this decision lightly, I thought long and hard about this,” she said Tuesday.
Lucas-Burke has served on Portsmouth’s City Council since 2016. Known for her fiery remarks, she has not shied away from accusing fellow city council members of lying and bribery during her time in chambers.
She told supporters she plans to add more diversity to the city council with her decision to leave her current seat.
“I believe that the council that we have right now is just not the unit that we need to move our city forward,” said Lucas-Burke. “By moving away, it will provide an opportunity for more persons to enter the city council race and then work effectively with me.”
If elected, Lucas-Burke said she would focus on bringing more revenue into the city of Portsmouth, add more affordable housing, and navigate a collective bargaining measure recently adopted by the city.
Lucas-Burke said she plans to lead differently than the current administration.
‘We were not elected to just run our own agenda, we were elected by a community of people who want us to push their agendas for them and I hear what our citizens want and I am the voice that the citizens want to take their voices to the city,” said Lucas-Burke.
Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover said he wishes Lucas-Burke the best but stated he also plans on running for re-election.
Glover told 13News Now in a statement: “I look forward to building on what we’ve done here in Portsmouth, and taking the city to new heights.”
More candidates are expected to join the 2024 mayoral race as it gets closer to November.
