Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones is headed back to City Hall for a second term after cruising past two challengers in Tuesday's election, with unofficial returns showing him capturing roughly 69.5% of the vote. Sharon Scott and Phillip Hamilton split the remainder, leaving Jones with a commanding margin in a race that also included a contentious ballot question over raising sales taxes to pay for school construction.
According to 13News Now, Jones pulled in 39,392 votes to Hamilton's 11,471 and Scott's 5,815, out of 56,678 total ballots cast in the mayoral race. That put Hamilton at about 20.24% and Scott at roughly 10.26%, well behind the incumbent. The results remain unofficial and are expected to be certified later in November, the outlet reported.
A separate tally from pilotonline.com captured a snapshot taken Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., before all precincts had finished reporting, showing Jones with 65% of the vote, Hamilton with 24% and Scott with 11% at that point in the count. Jones declared victory in the three-way race Tuesday night, that outlet reported.
Jones Points to Crime Drop and School Investment
In a statement thanking Newport News residents for their trust and support, Jones said he was humbled by the opportunity and told supporters the victory belongs to the people of the city. He also thanked his supporters and the people who did not vote for him, according to 13News Now.
Jones said his first term included record-low crime and homicide rates alongside investments in public schools, and he pointed to nearly $1 billion in economic development that came to Newport News during his first four years in office. He said the city had made tremendous progress and that its best days were ahead, and he said he looked forward to continuing to build a safer, stronger and more prosperous Newport News.
Speaking to the same outlet, Jones said he was ready to keep working to reduce violent crime, invest more money into public schools and push forward development projects in places like Uptown and Denbigh. Jones, who became the city's youngest mayor four years ago at age 37, said he hoped to finish most of the projects he started in his first term. “I'm looking forward to completing a majority of them in the next four years,” Jones said, per pilotonline.com.
Among his stated priorities for a second term, Jones said he wants to continue modernizing the city's public schools. At a candidates' forum last month, Jones also touted the city's doubling of code compliance inspectors during his term, part of a broader push for stronger enforcement against landlords with substandard properties, the same report noted. He said the city had restricted new vape shops the previous year and was cracking down on existing shops illegally selling drugs — an issue on which all three candidates, including Scott and Hamilton, agreed the city has too many, according to pilotonline.com's coverage of the forum.
Scott and Hamilton Pitched Different Visions
Scott, a former Newport News City Council representative who served on the council for more than 20 years before leaving in 2022, said she entered the mayoral race after residents asked for her leadership style to return. She said she wants city hall to be more accessible and for communication between residents and city leaders to improve, with greater attention paid to everyday neighborhood concerns, 13News Now reported.
Hamilton, a former Virginia state delegate with experience as a teacher, assistant principal and school administrator, said he ran because he believes Newport News has lost sight of its people. His priorities included economic development, public safety and fiscal responsibility, and he said his background in education would help him support teachers and improve school discipline if elected.
At the October forum, Jones and Scott both said they supported a proposed 1% sales tax referendum to fund school construction and major renovations, while Hamilton did not state a position on the measure in that report. Hamilton instead argued that the city should do a much better job auditing its expenditures before approving any tax increase, according to pilotonline.com.
School Tax Referendum Trailing in Early Count
That referendum appeared to be headed for defeat on election night. With 33 of 43 precincts reporting, 62% of voters were against the measure, and it did not appear to have enough support to pass at that point in the count, per pilotonline.com. The outlet's reporting on the referendum, like its vote-share snapshot for the mayoral race, reflected results still being tallied rather than a certified outcome.
Early in-person voting for the election ran from Sept. 18 through Oct. 31, according to wavy.com's coverage of the race. Newport News voters went to the polls Tuesday to choose their mayor for the next four years, with final certification of the mayoral results and the referendum still pending later this month.
