Mayoral elections in Virginia Beach are held every four years to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach.
All Virginia Beach municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but most candidates can be affiliated with political parties. Virginia Beach uses a plurality voting system, with no possibility of runoffs.
| Election Name: | 2008 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Virginia Beach, Virginia.png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Year: | 2004 |
| Next Election: | 2012 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2012 |
| Nominee1: | Will Sessoms |
| Popular Vote1: | 74,394 |
| Percentage1: | 38.97% |
| Nominee2: | Meyera Oberndorf |
| Popular Vote2: | 67,551 |
| Percentage2: | 35.38% |
| Nominee4: | John D. Moss |
| Popular Vote4: | 29,542 |
| Percentage4: | 15.47% |
| Nominee5: | Scott Taylor |
| Popular Vote5: | 19,165 |
| Percentage5: | 10.04% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Meyera Oberndorf |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Will Sessoms |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
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The 2008 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 4, 2008, to elect the next mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Meyera Oberndorf lost re-election to Republican candidate Will Sessoms (ending Oberndorf's two-decade tenure as the city's mayor).[1]
Will Sessoms was endorsed by Doug McCain, who is a Virginia Beach resident and John McCain's son.[2] [3] By December 31, 2007, Sessoms had a US$321,000 to $5,600 fundraising edge.[4]
| Election Name: | 2012 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Virginia Beach, Virginia.png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2008 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2016 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Nominee1: | Will Sessoms |
| Popular Vote1: | 124,263 |
| Percentage1: | 69.01% |
| Nominee2: | Richard W. “RK” Kowalewitch |
| Popular Vote2: | 34,145 |
| Percentage2: | 18.96% |
| Nominee3: | Walter W. Erb |
| Popular Vote3: | 20,763 |
| Percentage3: | 11.53% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Will Sessoms |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Will Sessoms |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
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The 2012 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 6, 2012, to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Will Sessoms won re-election with 69.01% of the vote.[5] [6]
| Election Name: | 2016 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Virginia Beach, Virginia.png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2012 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2012 |
| Next Election: | 2018 Virginia Beach mayoral special election |
| Next Year: | 2018 |
| Nominee1: | Will Sessoms |
| Popular Vote1: | 101,251 |
| Percentage1: | 54.1% |
| Nominee2: | Richard W. "RK" Kowalewitch |
| Popular Vote2: | 36,329 |
| Percentage2: | 19.41% |
| Nominee4: | A. M. "Don" Weeks |
| Popular Vote4: | 34,449 |
| Percentage4: | 18.41% |
| Nominee5: | George Furman III |
| Popular Vote5: | 14,238 |
| Percentage5: | 7.61% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Will Sessoms |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Will Sessoms |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
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The 2016 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the nayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Will Sessoms ran for a third term.[7] He was re-elected with 54.1% of the vote.[8] [9]
| Election Name: | 2018 Virginia Beach mayoral special election |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Virginia Beach, Virginia.png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2016 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2020 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
| Election Date: | |
| Image1: | File:NAS Oceana Thanks City of Virginia Beach (1) (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Bobby Dyer |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 82,201 |
| Percentage1: | 51.80% |
| Nominee2: | M. Ben Davenport |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 75,693 |
| Percentage2: | 47.70% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Louis Jones (acting) |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Bobby Dyer |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
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The 2018 Virginia Beach mayoral special election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next mayor of Virginia Beach. concurrently with various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican mayor Will Sessoms resigned, which led to the special election.[10] Republican candidate Bobby Dyer defeated Democratic candidate M. Ben Davenport with 51.80% of the vote.[11] [12]
Dyer was a physical therapist as well as a professor of government at Regent University,[13] [14] and M. Ben Davenport had served as an at-large member of the Virginia Beach City Council since 2015.[15]
Dyer won despite being outspent by Davenport 5 to 1.[16]
| Election Name: | 2020 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Virginia Beach, Virginia.png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2018 Virginia Beach mayoral special election |
| Previous Year: | 2018 |
| Next Election: | 2024 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Election Date: | |
| Image1: | File:NAS Oceana Thanks City of Virginia Beach (1) (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Bobby Dyer |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 113,567 |
| Percentage1: | 51.64 |
| Nominee2: | Jody Wagner |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 96,400 |
| Percentage2: | 43.83 |
| Map Size: | 230px |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Bobby Dyer |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Bobby Dyer |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Colour1: | c0c0c0 |
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The 2020 Virginia Beach mayoral election took place on November 3, 2020, to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Bobby Dyer defeated Democrat Jody Wagner, who was the former Virginia Secretary of Finance and Virginia State Treasurer, with 51.64% of the vote.
Bobby Dyer was first elected in a 2018 special election held due to the resignation of Mayor Will Sessoms.[10]
On February 27, 2020, city council member Aaron Rouse announced his intention to seek office. When reached by The Virginian-Pilot for comment on the announcement, Bobby Dyer confirmed that he would be seeking re-election.[17] On May 30, 2020, Rouse announced that he was dropping out of the race citing the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for ending his campaign.[18] On June 9, 2020, former Virginia Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner announced that she would challenge Dyer in the upcoming election.[19] On June 12, 2020, businessman Richard W. "RK" Kowalewitch announced that he would also challenge Dyer.[20]
On October 8, 2020, the Virginia Beach Forum conducted a series of interviews with Dyer, Wagner, and Kowalewitch.[21]
On November 4, 2020, results confirmed that Dyer had won the election and been reelected to a second term.[22] That morning, Wagner conceded to Dyer, saying in a statement that they "both agreed that what our city needs right now is unity, and I look forward to working with him to move our city forward and address the critical challenges we face. While I am disappointed in the outcome of the election, I am incredibly grateful for the support from friends, family, and our entire community."[23]
| Candidate | Experience | Logo | Campaign announced | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Dyer |
| (Website) | [24] | |||
| Jody Wagner |
| (Website) | ||||
| Richard "RK" Kowalewitch |
| |||||
See also: 2024 Virginia elections.
| Election Name: | 2024 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Virginia Beach, Virginia.png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2020 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2020 |
| Next Election: | 2028 Virginia Beach mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2028 |
| Election Date: | |
| Map Size: | 230px |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Bobby Dyer |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 2024 Virginia Beach mayoral election will take place on November 5, 2024, to elect the mayor of Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Mayor Bobby Dyer announced his re-election bid in 2023.[25] [26]
The mayoral election will take place alongside other 2024 Virginia Beach elections, including races for City Council.