African-American Mayors Elected In 3 Cities [VIRGINIA]

African-American Mayors Elected In 3 Cities [VIRGINIA]
BY JEREMY LAZARUS | RICHMOND FREE PRESS

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[three_fourth padding=”0 30px 0 10px”][dropcap]Voters[/dropcap] in Norfolk and Roanoke elected African-American mayors in Tuesday’s municipal elections.

And in Hampton, Mayor George Wallace lost his re-election bid to another African-American.

The new mayor of Norfolk, one of the state’s largest cities, will be state Sen. Kenneth C. Alexander, a stalwart of the General Assembly’s Legislative Black Caucus.

The 49-year-old funeral home owner won 51.6 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election to easily defeat two rivals, Norfolk Sheriff Bob McCabe and attorney and Norfolk City Councilman Andy Protogyrou, who received 22 percent and 25 percent of the vote, respectively.

Sen. Alexander will take office July 1, replacing retiring Mayor Paul D. Fraim, who has held the post since 1994.

The mayor-elect won the 5th Senate District seat in 2012 following the death of Sen. Yvonne B. Miller. He previously served five terms in the House of Delegates and also served as chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. His victory will lead to a special election for a new senator.

Separately, Roanoke City Councilman Sherman Lea, 63, will be that city’s new mayor on July 1. He was unopposed in his bid to succeed Mayor David Bowers, who did not seek re-election.

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KENNETH ALEXANDER
Kenneth Cooper “Kenny” Alexander (born October 17, 1966, in Norfolk, Virginia) is the mayor-elect of Norfolk, Virginia. From 2002 – 2012, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 89th District in Norfolk. He was elected in 2012 to the Senate of Virginia, representing the 5th District in Norfolk and Chesapeake. WIKIPEDIA

DONNIE TUCK
Kenneth Cooper “Kenny” Hampton City Councilman (elected in May 2010); Technical Writer; Former Municipal Government Division Manager. Native of Chapel Hill, NC; 1976 Graduate of Duke University; 1993 Graduate of Old Dominion University (Masters in Public Administration). MIFOS

SHERMAN LEA
Mr. Lea has served in the Virginia Department of Corrections for 35 years before retiring in January of 2012. He began his corrections career as an institutional parole officer in Richmond. He has served as an adult probation and parole officer in Danville, and was selected as the first African -American chief probation and parole officer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Upon his retirement from the department, Mr. Lea had achieved the position of Regional Administrator for the Western Region of Community Corrections. VIRGINIA.GOV[/one_fourth_last]