Voters gave two Democratic newcomers the most votes in a party primary for three nominations Tuesday, signaling at least some change is coming to the Roanoke City Council.
Healthcare employee Raekwon Moore won all of the city’s 20 precincts except for East Gate — which he lost by just one vote to the second-place finisher, Danny Clawson, director of a city nonprofit. Moore finished more than 1,000 votes ahead of Clawson, who finished about 400 votes ahead of the third-place finisher, incumbent Vivian Sanchez-Jones.
“I’m excited that this community is trusting and encouraging and enthusiastic about this campaign,” Moore said Tuesday night, “and I’m really excited to be on a ticket with Danny and Vivian. Thank you to the voters and the candidates on a hard fought race.”
“I’m really proud of the race we ran,” Clawson said Tuesday night. “I think we kept it positive and focused on community, and what this race really shows is that people are craving community. … I’m just so thrilled about the number of people who have voted.”
Sanchez-Jones did not respond to a message left for comment Tuesday night.
Incumbent Peter Volosin and Harvey Brookins both finished more than 900 votes behind Sanchez-Jones. Volosin and Brookins dealt with late issues during the campaign.
Councilman Phazhon Nash accused Volosin of making a racially insensitive comment to him after a tense council vote — a comment Volosin acknowledged but said was not meant in that way.
Brookins was charged with a misdemeanor of assaulting his then wife in 2017 over a reported argument over french fries.
He said in a recent interview that he takes full responsibility for his actions, but declined to comment on what exactly happened.
Moore, Clawson and Sanchez-Jones will now run for three open council seats in the general election against a mix of old and new faces: former mayor David Bowers, former city councilwoman Stephanie Moon Reynolds, and retired Temple Emanuel Rabbi Kathy Cohen, who are running as independents, along with Republican candidate and businesswoman Amanda Marko.
The third seat up for election this year is currently occupied by Evelyn Powers, an independent, who is not seeking reelection.
Moore works for Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare in electronic health records and sits on the Grandin Theatre board.
He has said that he would push to keep the 1% increase in the meals tax that was made last year, rather than letting the increase sunset, as planned, in 2027. He proposes using that extra funding for education, in hopes to eventually return to a policy where the schools receive 40% of the city’s revenue — a longstanding policy that has changed in recent years due to budget difficulties in the city.
Moore said he is an advocate for investing in the city’s parks, as well as bus stop covering and seating throughout the city. He’s been involved in the changes to the Evans Spring Plan by hosting public forums, and is supportive of a land grant option to offer housing while protecting the existing tree canopy.
Clawson is the executive director of the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition.
They said in a previous interview that they have experience in data-driven interventions, gained from a master’s degree in public health and previous work as a treatment counselor for HIV testing.
As the head of a nonprofit, Clawson said they are “used to a high degree of fiscal scrutiny,” which they said they believe is something Roanoke’s residents are looking for in such a cash-strapped period for the city.
Clawson also said in that interview that whatever needs to happen to bring the school division’s budget to “fully funded” needs to happen. Clawson also believes that attracting young professionals to the city is the best way to generate revenue, they said.
Sanchez-Jones, who works as a truancy officer for Roanoke City Public Schools, was appointed to the council in 2020, before being elected in 2022.
She said in a campaign interview that she believes the city council should support its schools. Sanchez-Jones said she has spent the last six years advocating for those who “look and sound like me” — Sanchez-Jones is the only Hispanic member of the council — as well as for people with disabilities through making the city’s infrastructure compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Sanchez-Jones said her biggest priority at this point is finding new sources of revenue for the city. She has suggested opening a sports complex to bring in families and, with that, higher tax revenues.
Nicholas Ocampo, the city’s director of elections, said on Tuesday that there were 68,173 registered voters in Roanoke for this election cycle. Vote totals from Tuesday night showed a turnout of less than 10%.
There are still some provisional and late-arrival ballots left to be counted.
More details on the three Democrats advancing to the general election can be found in preelection reporting on all five Democratic candidates.
The general election is Nov. 3.
