VIRGINIA BEACH — The election recounts are now complete, and have reaffirmed the three winners of November’s election: Councilmen John Moss and Louis Jones, as well as newcomer, David Nygaard will be seated on Virginia Beach City Council Jan. 1, pending approval by the three-judge recount court.
Likewise, the recount’s conclusion Thursday solidifies the election losses of Dee Oliver, Brad Martin, and John Uhrin.
All of the races remained close after the recount results were certified, with some winners expanding their leads slightly, while others lost ground — but not enough to change the results, according to the certified election results.
The closest recounted race was between Uhrin and Nygaard — a contest decided by just 212 votes. The recount moved the count slightly, but still left Nygaard up by 145 votes.
“I’m happy to be done and looking forward to starting my new job” as councilman for the Beach District, Nygaard said.
Moss will remain one of the city’s at-large representatives, and narrowly defeated challenger Oliver by 341 — a slight decrease from his 347 vote lead going into the recount.
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The recount treated the contest between Martin and Jones a little differently, which ended with Jones up 524 votes — an increase from his prior 503-vote lead.
The results bring to a close a historic chapter in Virginia Beach’s history, as the city became the first in the state to have multiple election recounts simultaneously.
“There has been no precedent in the Commonwealth” for three recounts from the same city at the same time, said Judge Glenn Croshaw, who oversaw the recount along with two other judges. “We’re making history here.”
Director of Election Donna Patterson said the process went relatively smoothly once it was mapped out.
“We’re happy with how things went.”
