City & town

Portsmouth City Council

Vote for: 3
Term: 4 years
Candidates: 5
Election: Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: The city council sets City of Portsmouth's budget, tax rates and ordinances and appoints the city manager.

Candidates Compare by issue

Lisa L. Lucas-Burke

No party listed

Executive director, Lucas Lodge LLC; former vice mayor

The gist

Supports affordable housing for first-time buyers and seniors.
Proposes tax incentives for teachers, police and firefighters.
Proposes tax breaks for longtime resident taxpayers.
Supports small and minority business role in waterfront plans.

More about Lisa

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Supports affordable housing for first-time buyers and seniors.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“Affordable housing should include options for first-time homeowners, young professionals, seniors and the workforce”
Proposes tax incentives for teachers, police and firefighters.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“provide tax incentives to the workforce that serves our children (educators) and local communities (fire and police)”
Proposes tax breaks for longtime resident taxpayers.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“It would be a great incentive to offer tax breaks to our residents who have resided in the city for 10-plus years”
Supports small and minority business role in waterfront plans.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“This should look to include participation of Portsmouth's small, minority-and-women owned businesses”

Mark M. Whitaker

No party listed

Pastor, New Bethel Baptist Church; former Hampton University professor

The gist

Opposes tax incentives and subsidies for developers.
Supports real estate tax relief and full school funding.
Proposes penalties for breaking minority contracting rules.
Proposes open public presentations by waterfront developers.

More about Mark

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Opposes tax incentives and subsidies for developers.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“Portsmouth does not need to provide tax incentives or subsidies to developers.”
Supports real estate tax relief and full school funding.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“I will fight for affordability by supporting real estate tax relief, fully funded schools, free certification training through the PACE Center”
Proposes penalties for breaking minority contracting rules.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“proposals should be required to demonstrate minority contracting opportunities. Substantial penalties should be imposed for noncompliance.”
Proposes open public presentations by waterfront developers.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“Portsmouth should make the process open with multiple developers presenting their projects to the public.”

Vernon Lamont Tillage, Jr.

No party listedIncumbent

Portsmouth City Council member; community affairs coordinator, Virginia Natural Gas

The gist

Proposes freezing automatic water and sewer rate hikes.
Proposes lower real estate tax rates and wider relief.
Supports minority and women-owned business goals for waterfront contracts.
Proposes city land and zoning incentives for workforce housing.

More about Vernon

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Proposes freezing automatic water and sewer rate hikes.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“we must freeze automatic water and sewage rate hikes and aggressively secure state and federal grants to cover infrastructure mandates”
Proposes lower real estate tax rates and wider relief.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“we must lower real estate tax rates and expand our relief programs”
Supports minority and women-owned business goals for waterfront contracts.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“I support mandating robust minority and women-owned business enterprises participation goals for upcoming waterfront contracts”
Proposes city land and zoning incentives for workforce housing.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“we should leverage city-owned land and zoning incentives to create designated workforce housing”

Mark A. Hugel

No party listedIncumbent

Portsmouth City Council member; retired from CACI International

The gist

Supports council priorities led by public safety.
Supports implementing the waterfront development plan.
Proposes cutting costs and broadening the tax base.
Supports moving City Hall off the waterfront for housing.

More about Mark

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Supports council priorities led by public safety.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“1) public safety, 2) education, 3) infrastructure, and 4) economic development as our strategic priorities”
Supports implementing the waterfront development plan.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“Implementing our waterfront development plan is critically important to the future of Portsmouth.”
Proposes cutting costs and broadening the tax base.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“There are two ways to lower the tax burden — cut costs and spread the tax burden across more taxpayers.”
Supports moving City Hall off the waterfront for housing.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“Moving City Hall off the waterfront and demolishing the former civic center will open even more housing and retail opportunities downtown.”

William E. "Bill" Moody, Jr.

No party listedIncumbent

Portsmouth City Council member; membership growth consultant, JenCare Senior Medical Center

The gist

Supports full staffing of police, fire and EMS.
Proposes indexing senior and veteran relief to inflation.
Supports developing the former jail site and North Harbor.
Supports redeveloping vacant and underused properties for housing.

More about William

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Supports full staffing of police, fire and EMS.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“making sure that our police and fire departments are properly staffed, addressing EMS staffing and retention”
Proposes indexing senior and veteran relief to inflation.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“I feel we should consider indexing current programs for veterans and seniors to the consumer price index.”
Supports developing the former jail site and North Harbor.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“I support continued development of the former jail and courthouse site, the North Harbor property, and other opportunities”
Supports redeveloping vacant and underused properties for housing.
Portsmouth City Council election: Meet the candidates
Candidate questionnaire · The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.com
“I would support policies that increase the supply of quality housing, including responsible redevelopment of vacant and underutilized properties.”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 6 issues covered in this race.