This November, five seats on Norfolk’s City Council will be on the ballot — but only two feature contested races.
In Wards 2 and 5, incumbents Jeremy McGee and Tommy Smigiel face no challengers. Ward 1 features a sole candidate, Scott Guirlinger, after Vice Mayor Martin Thomas opted not to run again after a decade on the council.
Norfolk voters in Ward 3 and Ward 4 will face choices, however. WHRO interviewed all five candidates in the two competitive races about their priorities and why they believe they deserve to represent their respective districts.
Early voting is open through October 30. Election Day is November 3.
Ward 3: Incumbent faces challenger focused on community growth
Sikaiadah Newton, the president of the Ballentine Civic League and a teacher, is running against longtime incumbent Mamie Johnson, who has represented Ward 3 since 2014. Newton credits her experience as an educator, mentor and athletics coach as the foundation of her leadership style.
“Not just leading from the front, but leading from behind to ignite others," Newton said.
She said she developed her campaign platform by visiting all 36 communities in the ward.
"We need to develop the whole ward, and not just certain parts of the ward," said the first-time candidate.
Newton, who works for Norfolk Public Schools, said she relies on relationships she's already built with school leaders and plans to strengthen those connections through ongoing collaboration.
Newton described accessibility as a discipline she practices while campaigning. "It truly is about listening first, then speaking," Newton said. "I don't speak often because I want to make sure that I'm hearing."
Johnson says she prioritized investments in parks and green spaces during her time on council, implementing tree canopy requirements for new developments and overseeing the creation of around two dozen parks and open spaces in the ward.
During a trip to Japan on behalf of the city, Johnson observed local educational and community programming, which inspired her to launch "Believe in Learning", an annual initiative dedicated to boosting literacy, library usage, and family-oriented learning activities across Norfolk. She also developed Community Connect programs, as well as Norfolk Works, an economic development initiative.
Johnson said she spent a year holding informal coaching sessions for residents with small business ideas, helping them learn how to access city funding.
"I spent a year teaching small businesses and people that had a dream about small businesses where the money was," Johnson said. "The city invested $6 million, and I told them the money is there, and I can show you where the money is as well as how to go get the money."
Johnson, a former educator, said the City Council and the Norfolk School Board need a more structured relationship.
"I think that the school board, as well as City Council, we have to have scheduled meetings, if only quarterly," Johnson said. "I would like to see the City of Norfolk, along with Norfolk Public Schools, sit down and plan out their legislative packet for the upcoming budget year."
Johnson said being a full-time city council member - typically a part-time role but time-consuming role filled by people who still maintain a job - allows her to connect with residents more effectively.
"I go to civic leagues. I know that I hear from everybody because I'm a full-time city council," Johnson said.
She is running on her twelve years of experience in office.
"Having a veteran there who's already made the plans, all now we have to do is implement, execute," Johnson said. "If someone else comes in, you're starting all over. You lose the momentum... it will take you years to get anything done."
Ward 4: Three candidates vie for change
Incumbent J.P. Paige, an entrepreneur and bail bondsman elected in 2022, said his biggest lesson in office has been the importance of building support among colleagues.
"It's simply about being able to count the votes that you need to get things done," Paige said.
Paige cites the Red Academy, a city? program launched in Ward 4 to train minority residents for careers in real estate development, as one of his proudest achievements.
He is seeking a second term, pushing for more equitable capital funding between the east and west sides of the ward and city..
"If we're giving $100,000 to the west, we should be giving at least the $100,000 to the east," Paige said, referring to the different sides of the city. "And the east, since it's been marginalized for so long, should get $200,000 until we catch up."
An imbalance in investment between the two sides of Norfolkhas long been a topic of contention andboiled over during budget hearings this spring.
Paige discussed the need for more investment to grow Ward 4's commercial base, especially in neighborhoods like Berkley. He emphasized the ward's importance to Norfolk's economy.
"Ward Four generates 47 and a half percent of all retail sales tax coming into the city. A third of all new business tax that comes into the city is right out of Ward 4," Paige said. "We hold the airport, the bus terminal, the HRT headquarters, the light rail headquarters, and the train station is in Ward Four... We have seven shipyards in the city of Norfolk, and six of those shipyards happen to be in Ward Four... Ward Four is the spine of Norfolk. It is the backbone itself of this city."
Paige said he has consistently supported the school board, even when some of his colleagues have not, and believes the current relationship between the two bodies is the strongest it's been during his time in office.
The first-term councilman said the hardest part of the job is distinguishing between genuine concerns and outside interests.
Paige faces two challengers.
Jacquetta Garris, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, is running on a platform she calls "leadership you can measure."
"I'm a follow-through girl," Garris said. "I have to follow back through and make sure what we did works, or if it didn't work so that I can find the barriers for it."
Asked how she felt about outreach from current elected officials, Garris didn't directly address any concerns about Paige, instead pivoting to what she would do if elected.
"I respect anybody who's doing public service, but I think I bring something unique and different to the table because of my follow through aspect," Garris said. "They don't have to repeatedly ask for the same thing over and over again. Give them a status update of why something is being done or why it's not being done."
A small business owner, Garris pointed to navigation — helping people understand the process for permits and licenses — as the biggest barrier she wants to address.
Garris said she would formalize accessibility by holding regular office hours for civic league leaders and maintaining an open door policy.
She added she wants to be an ally to the school board without overstepping but working as a partner.
Jazmine Garcia, a public health professional, is also seeking the seat on her "Four Waves of Change" platform: community safety and healing, youth and family investment, economic opportunity and neighborhood voice and equity.
"Now is the time to make that change," Garcia said. "We are looking for better public safety within our communities, more access to mental health care and support. We're looking for youth and family investment... economic opportunity, so building up our small businesses, even our local nonprofits. We do not have a lot of support for those that are hearing and vision impaired, people who speak English as a second language. We need translators."
Garcia agreed that resources for small businesses mostly exist, but many residents are unaware of them, and she wants to make sure people utilize the resources.
"The city offers so many great amenities and resources to small businesses, but oftentimes people don't have the knowledge of what is offered," Garcia said.
Garcia noted her service on the district's school health advisory committee since 2022, which she says gives her a direct line into the school system.
Her goal is to ensure that residents who have historically felt excluded are welcomed and engaged.
"A lot of people are not being engaged, and we need to be able to allow them to feel like they belong," she said.
Garcia also said she’s faced skepticism on the campaign trail about not being from Norfolk originally.
"I am a resident of Norfolk," Garcia said. "I wasn't born here, but I live here now, and I made Norfolk home."
