CHESAPEAKE — A new lawsuit filed by the chairman of the Virginia Tea Party seeks to remove Don Carey from the ballot in the city mayor’s race as he faces questions about whether he should have stepped down from the City Council to run.
Chesapeake resident Nelson Velez filed the lawsuit in Chesapeake Circuit Court this week, asking the court to compel the Virginia Department of Elections and the local registrar to find Carey ineligible to run, remove him from the ballots and delay printing them.
It’s the second legal action taken amid an ongoing dispute over Carey’s candidacy. A majority of City Council members in July approved a lawsuit seeking to compel him to resign his council seat.
At issue is a resign-to-run provision on the books in Chesapeake that requires any council member running for mayor to vacate their council seat by June 30. The provision was established when Chesapeake held city elections in May, but it was not altered when the General Assembly acted in 2021 to shift city elections to November. Carey’s council term will end Dec. 31.
Velez’s complaint states because Carey didn’t resign, he didn’t fulfill all necessary requirements to be a mayoral candidate.
Reached by phone Friday, Carey said the move was “disheartening” and “anti-democratic.”
“It’s just an attempt to disenfranchise not only myself, but the people that I represent and the issues that we’re fighting for,” he said. “I would have never thought to see something like this happening in the city of Chesapeake.”
Carey and Mary Lynn Pinkerman, the city’s elections registrar, confirmed to The Virginian-Pilot that Carey filed all necessary documentation to be considered a candidate. Pinkerman, who’s named in the complaint, didn’t comment on the pending litigation.
Velez’s complaint, which seeks an emergency injunction, urges a hearing no later than Tuesday, but as of Friday, no hearing was scheduled. His attorney, Christopher Woodfin of Woodfin Law in Williamsburg, told The Pilot on Friday that Chesapeake judges have recused themselves, and a judge is being appointed. Still, he’s confident the court will expedite the process before the election.
It’s also unclear when the City Council’s lawsuit will be heard. All Chesapeake Circuit Court judges also have recused themselves in that case and no hearing was on the docket as of Friday.
When Carey declared his candidacy in March, he announced he was switching political parties to become a Democrat in the nonpartisan election. He is running against incumbent Rick West in the Nov. 5 election.
Pinkerman said the window for creating, proofing, printing and delivering ballots begins Sept. 6 and spans to Sept. 20, the start of early voting at the registrar’s office.
Velez’s complaint also states that if Carey is included on ballots, he asks that Carey be forced to resign as a council member and pay back the salary he earned after June 30.
Reached by phone Friday, Velez said he filed the lawsuit because he “needed to act” before the start of early voting.
“I pretty much filed it because I’m a citizen of Chesapeake, and I’m concerned about this absolute disregard of law,” he said.
John O’Bannon, the chair of the Virginia Board of Elections, also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. He did not respond to a request for comment. Andrea Gaines, a Virginia Department of Elections spokesperson, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
