By Jillian Nolin
Now that the national and state elections are behind us, it’s time to turn our attention back to Norfolk politics.
Already, a candidate, Evans Poston, has announced that he will challenge longtime Commissioner of Revenue Sharon McDonald for the Democratic nomination. It will be a first run for elected office for the 33-year-old insurance broker and Norfolk native. For Mc-Donald, it would be her fifth term as commissioner.
As of last week, Pos-ton had cobbled together the endorsement of nearly every elected Democrat in Norfolk.
The list of supporters includes Mayor Paul Fraim, Sen. Ralph Northam, Sheriff Robert McCabe, City Treasurer Thomas Moss Mr., Clerk of Court George Schaefer and 89th House of Delegates nominee Daun Hester, once a political ally of McDonald’s.
Councilmen Paul Rid-dick , Andy Protogyrou, Tommy Smigiel and Bar-clay C. Winn, who is an independent, as well as Vice Mayor and Deputy Treasurer Anthony L. Burfoot, also have backed Poston.
“I just think we need some change in that office,” Smigiel said. “And I think he’s going to bring the necessary changes to it.”
Riddick said the environment on the first floor at City Hall is “too political,” so much so that McDonald’s office is “stagnant.” He also cited the continuals conflict between McDonald and the City Treasurer’s Office as a reason for his decision to support her challenger.
“If you don’t have a good working relationship with other elected officials, with your City Council, it’s tough to get the things done that you need to make the office work effectively,” McCabe said. “I think she’s burned a lot of bridges in that regard over the years.”
Several of these Democrats also pointed to Mc-Donald’s public missteps in the past year, from hiring family members in her office to charges on a city credit card for which she had no receipts. The bad press that these decisions brought forth cast the city in a negative light, several of the officials said. McDonald hasn’t said whether she’ll rise to Poston’s challenge and try to best him for Democratic nomination in the spring, run as an independent in next year’s general election, or neither.
McDonald, who was first elected in 1997, said last week that she would announce her plans before the end of
the year.
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