Departing and New Mayors in Hampton Are Transitioning

(Compiled from press and news reports)

On July 1, Donnie Tuck will slide into the mayor’s chair in Hampton while outgoing Mayor George Wallace will move to chair the Peninsula Airport Commission. In May, Tuck won 59.45 percent of the vote, beating Wallace by almost 20 percentage points, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections. Wallace, who has served as Hampton’s mayor for the last two years, and in Hampton government almost non-stop since 1975, including eight years as city manager, was elected to chair the commission at a recent meeting.

Wallace will officially start as chair on July 1, with June 30 as the end date for his term on Hampton City Council. He was recently reappointed to the airport commission through 2020 by the Hampton City Council. The Peninsula Airport Commission oversees operations at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. Wallace replaces Newport News city manager Jim Bourey, who served as chair for the last two years. Bourey was recently reappointed to another four-year term on the commission as well. According to a City of Newport News press release, it is the commission’s practice to rotate chairs every two years.

Meanwhile, Tuck, who slides into the mayor’s chair on July 1, began his first term on The City Council in July 2010. He is a former city councilman with a master’s degree in public administration from Old Dominion University and a bachelor’s degree in public policy studies from Duke University. In news reports, Tuck described himself as an outsider during the mayoral race, “I think going forward it will be a different attitude and a different culture,” he said.

Tuck received many endorsements including one from the Daily Press which said, “We are giving council member Donnie Tuck our endorsement to unseat current Mayor George Wallace … Mr. Tuck, since joining the council in 2010, has been the most frequent dissenting voice. He speaks up when he disagrees, and he demands that questions be addressed when they are being ignored. Hampton could use more of this, or more clout behind it.” The Daily Press continued, “We hope that if Mr. Tuck is indeed elected mayor, he could use his new position to steer the council in a direction that he has consistently called for in the past.” Tuck ran on a platform of change and pushing for the city to listen more to residents.