Three incumbents fought off challengers to hold on to their state Senate seats in South Hampton Roads Tuesday night, two of them Democrats and one a Republican.
Senators Democrat Lionell Spruill Sr. and Republican John Cosgrove had little trouble fighting off spirited opponents, while Democrat Lynwood Lewis had some early worries, but eventually pulled away.
The 5th Senate District hadn’t seen a contested regular election in over two decades, but Spruill, 72, who won the seat in a special election in 2016, faced Independent Jeff Staples.
Spruill’s work in the state Senate focused on education, lowering crime rates, and helping fund and train more police officers. He said he also wanted to find dedicated funding for construction and repairs for schools.
Staples, a 58-year-old auto mechanic in Chesapeake, decided to provide another option for voters. One of his campaign focuses was public transportation funding. He also opposed the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and said he was against Norfolk’s partnership with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe to build a casino.
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6th Senate District: Lankford vs. Lewis
Lewis, 57, held off Republican Elizabeth Lankford to hang on to the 6th Senate District. A lawyer and moderate Democrat, he has focused on sea level rise and eliminating gerrymandering during his tenure. He created the Virginia Shoreline Resiliency Fund which provides loans to homeowners and businesses to elevate their properties because of sea level rise. On the campaign trail, he promised to find funding for a regional group that would tackle coastal flooding, sea level rise and land subsidence.
Lankford, 35, owns Blue Crab Bay Co., which sells stoneware, specialty nuts and Bloody Marys in Mefla on the Eastern Shore. She ran her campaign with promises to improve the economy, focus on school technology and trade schools, and fund school infrastructure.
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14th Senate District: Cosgrove vs. Raveson
After a decade of facing no general election challenges, Cosgrove faced his first from retired loan officer and current estate trustee from Suffolk Rebecca Raveson for the 14th Senate District, which spans parts of Southampton, Franklin, Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
The 65-year-old Republican incumbent and Chesapeake resident was elected in 2014 after serving as a delegate for a decade and a member of Chesapeake’s City Council.
Cosgrove, an engineer and president of Waterways Consulting, has pushed legislation on improving screening and discharging procedures for mentally ill inmates, getting menhaden regulation out of the hands of the General Assembly, and requiring voters to register by party. He sits on the commerce and labor, education and health, rehabilitation and social services, transportation, and local government committees.
Raveson has led her campaign on gun control and said that if elected, she would work to pass Gov. Ralph Northam’s legislation for universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders and high-capacity magazine bans.
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5th Senate District
Lionell Spruill Sr.* 30,189
Jeff Staples 8,057
*-incumbent
52 of 52 precincts reporting
6th Senate District
Elizabeth Lankford 16,718
Lynwood Lewis* 24,902
*-incumbent
54 of 55 precincts reporting
14th Senate District
John Cosgrove* 31,090
Rebecca Raveson 19,421
*-incumbent
71 of 77 precincts reporting
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Staff writers Gordon Rago and Marie Albiges contributed to this report.
Briana Adhikusuma, 757-222-5349, b.adhikusuma@pilotonline.com
