UPDATE 11;02 P.M. ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – With 100% of the precinct reporting, David Bowers has won the race for Roanoke City Mayor by 19 votes.
Under Virginia State Law, provisional ballots have until the Friday after election day to be received and have not yet been counted.
The law for recounts in Virginia states:
The recount laws found in the Code of Virginia1 apply to “all elections held in the Commonwealth,” which includes primaries, general or special elections for offices, multi-winner races, ranked choice voting races, and referenda or questions before the electorate.
Virginia election law does not allow a losing candidate in a party-conducted nomination process (non-primary) to request a recount of non-primary results. The rules or bylaws of the political party, or the “Call” and rules for the non-primary nominating event may permit such a process.
A petition for a recount may be filed only if there is a difference of not more than one percent (1%) of the total vote cast for the apparent winner and any apparently defeated candidate, as certified by the State Board of Elections or the electoral board.
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ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – WFXR News is your local election headquarters and as we inch closer to election day, we’re taking a look at the candidates running for Roanoke City Mayor.
David Bowers is one of three candidates on the ballot and was in the studio on Monday, October 28.
Bowers has previously served as mayor, grew up in Roanoke, and was Roanoke student government president at Patrick Henry High School. He was also a city councilman and has been a lawyer for 46 years, as well as being an adjunct professor at Virginia Western for the U.S. Government.
“I find a lot of discontent among the public right now; I don’t like the way things are going right now,” said Bowers. “I tell folks if you do like what’s going on in Roanoke, then you should choose one of my two opponents, they’re the incumbents and they’re in there some way or another responsible for where we are today. But I have a different vision about things. I’m going to take the city in a different direction.”
Some of the things he believes the city has not done well include:
- The City Council gave themselves a 90% raise.
- They botched the City Council the city manager selection process, it already cost $500,000 of taxpayer’s money.
- The rezoning scheme means you can just split up your house into apartments or multiple units and does not protect the sanctity of single-family homes and it does not in my opinion preserve the unique character wrote residential neighborhoods.
When asked about his campaign slogan, “Experience for a Change” and what it means to him, Bowers said he has represented the people of this city for many years and is proud of the impact his many accomplishments have had on the area. He said he still has new ideas that he would like to follow through with.
“I’ve had lots of experience of course, you know; I represent people who represent people in the courts of our city, and I represent our people at City Hall for many years. I worked on things like reopening the Hotel Roanoke and building greenways. We brought the medical school here to build high schools. One of the other things that I’m always very proud of we really pumped up the activities surrounding the Saint Patrick’s Day parade. I have a lot of new ideas that I want to try to take care of here in Roanoke.”
Throughout his years of service, Bowers has been elected as a Democrat and as an Independent, and now, he is running as a Republican. When asked to talk about his new ideas and about this change in party, Bowers quoted former President Regan, stating he believes the Democratic party has changed and sees himself as more of a “Youngkin Republican.”
“Over the years I think the party has changed. It’s become much more liberal than I am.”
Bowers said he thinks the public wants a whole new view of things in City Hall due to the “highest level of disenchantment” he remembers in the city in many years.