City & town

Radford City Council

Vote for: 2
Term: 4 years
Candidates: 5
Election: Nov 3, 2026

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

Candidates Compare by issue

Jonathan E. Stewart

Independent

Business and rental property owner

The gist

Supports the 1% sales tax for school repairs.
Proposes recruiting new businesses onto city-owned land.
Supports more transparency between city officials and residents.
Proposes restructuring city departments and job descriptions.
Proposes public swimming access at the city park.

More about Jonathan

View sources (1)

Supports the 1% sales tax for school repairs.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“I would encourage residents to vote YES on this.”
Proposes recruiting new businesses onto city-owned land.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“Recruiting new businesses has to be the main objective of the city; on land the city owns.”
Supports more transparency between city officials and residents.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“This city needs more transparency between city officials and the citizens.”
Proposes restructuring city departments and job descriptions.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“Each department and job description needs to be restructured”
Proposes public swimming access at the city park.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“Why do we not have an access for swimming that everyone could enjoy?”

P. Doug Kanipe

Independent

Senior design engineer, Kollmorgen

The gist

Supports continuing the city hiring freeze.
Proposes better financial reporting to track city revenue.
Supports lean Six Sigma methods with performance indicators.
Supports helping existing businesses grow and add jobs.
Proposes a public, prioritized list of school improvements.
Pledges to keep Radford an independent city.

More about P.

View sources (1)

Supports continuing the city hiring freeze.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“We should continue with the hiring freeze”
Proposes better financial reporting to track city revenue.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“We need better financial reporting to provide visibility to our budget”
Supports lean Six Sigma methods with performance indicators.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“We need the lean implementation to start quickly and have key performance indicators”
Supports helping existing businesses grow and add jobs.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“We can also work with existing businesses to help them grow and create more jobs.”
Proposes a public, prioritized list of school improvements.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“This list of improvements has to be prioritized and communicated to the public.”
Pledges to keep Radford an independent city.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“keep Radford as an independent city”

C. Charlie Meeks

Independent

The gist

No documented position found.

More about C.

Bill J. Kovarik

Independent

Professor, Radford University

The gist

Supports the 1% sales tax for school construction.
Opposes city limits on fraternity and sorority signs.
Supports making Radford more welcoming to college students.
Proposes city generation of low-cost renewable electricity.
Supports disclosing city water talks with data centers.

More about Bill

View sources (1)

Supports the 1% sales tax for school construction.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“Im in favor of the tax.”
Opposes city limits on fraternity and sorority signs.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“The unconstitutional city ordinances that restrict the display of fraternity and sorority signs”
Supports making Radford more welcoming to college students.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“College students are shying away from the city of Radford because they are treated like third-class citizens.”
Proposes city generation of low-cost renewable electricity.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“generate its own low - cost renewable electricity”
Supports disclosing city water talks with data centers.
Cardinal News 2026 Virginia Voter Guide candidate questionnaire: City of Radford (ElectUp data feed)
Candidate questionnaire · Cardinal News · app.electup.com
“What is happening with negotiations over selling city water to data centers?”

Chad L. McClanahan

Independent

The gist

No documented position found.

More about Chad

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; 5 issues covered in this race.