If there’s one thing uniting all three political newcomers in a wide-open House of Delegates race in Portsmouth, it’s tolls.
All three candidates running this year in District 80 agree a contract creating tolls to cross the midtown and downtown tunnels was a raw deal for Portsmouth, and that getting answers from the government about questions can take forever.
“The toll on the midtown and downtown tunnel was part of the worst transportation deal in the history of the commonwealth,” said Ryan Benton, a Realtor who’s from Portsmouth and at 35 is the youngest of the trio.
Benton, an independent, is facing off against Republican Jim Evans, who spent 22 years as a financial consultant before retiring this year, and Democrat Don Scott, a well-known local attorney who runs his own law office. The seat was left open when Del. Matthew James, a Democrat, stepped down to take a state economic development job.
While the race features three candidates brand new to politics, it has not gone without frequently used political tactics.
In recent weeks, Benton has published three videos on his Facebook page — his campaign hasn’t raised enough money for television ads — attacking Scott.
The videos have called into question Scott’s time in the Navy, where he was a lieutenant, junior grade and served aboard the destroyer John Hancock from September 1988 to June 1990. Two more ads have gone after an old child-support case and court testimony Scott gave 25 years ago as part of a federal drug trafficking case in Texas.
Scott, 54, opened up with The Pilot last year about being arrested in connection with a drug deal, then serving seven years in federal prison after pleading no contest. Federal prosecutors painted him as the ringleader of a drug ring, but Scott downplayed his role to the newspaper, saying he never saw drugs.
Scott believes his story offers a positive model: He got knocked down, got back up and made a successful career for himself.
If elected, Scott thinks he can use the experience to address criminal justice reform as a delegate.
Benton thinks voters need to know more about Scott before they decide how to vote.
Scott said the issues raised in two of the ads have already been settled decades ago, and he said he wouldn’t stoop to Benton’s level.
“There used to be a time when folks didn’t attack veterans,” Scott said.
Benton’s first video centers around a letter his campaign unearthed as part of a pre-sentencing report in Scott’s 1994 drug case.
The letter is signed by the commanding officer of the John Hancock on the eve of Scott’s separation from the Naval Service. It says he had a “UA,” or unauthorized absence, for three days and missed the ship’s movement on Aug. 28, 1989.
The letter adds that while Scott, then in his mid-20s, had “enormous potential and intellect,” he had let personal problems get in the way of his performance as an officer. He was satisfactory as a legal officer, the unnamed commanding officer wrote, but “excessive indebtedness, recurring financial difficulties, and untrustworthiness” led to his security clearance being revoked.
Scott declines to talk about what happened, saying it was a long time ago.
“I’m proud of my service,” said Scott, who was honorably discharged. “I’m never going to be embarrassed or ashamed about the service I provided to my country.”
A second ad questions his changing testimony about his involvement in the drug case, in which he pleaded no contest to take advantage of a plea deal. The third ad was about a $108,354 lien for unpaid child support, originally dating to 1991, which court records show Scott paid off in 2013, three months after getting the lien.
Of the three candidates, Scott had the most campaign cash on hand so far, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. His war chest was $40,000, while Evans had $4,000 and Benton had close to $1,100.
Evans benefits most from the recent redrawing of district lines. House District 80 gained 9 more points on the Republican side, VPAP data show.
For Evans, 64, education is at the top of the mind.
“Without good education, you won’t have economic development,” said Evans, who most recently was a senior advocacy coordinator with Capital One.
Evans said he got into the race after a conversation he had with a client who lived in another state and whose city and county tax rates were increased, doubling her real estate taxes. She was on a fixed income and was worried about making payments.
It made him realize how out of touch local leadership was on bigger issues like taxes and schooling.
If elected, he said, he would expand career and technical education opportunities to get young people into available jobs around Hampton Roads.
He’d also like to find ways to bring in more guidance counselors to schools.
https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js
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Ryan Benton
Don Scott
Jim Evans
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Ryan Benton
Don Scott
Jim Evans
Gordon Rago, 757-446-2601, gordon.rago@pilotonline.com