The historic campaigns of Nicole Carry and Chip Broadbent as Norfolk’s first openly-gay candidates for School Board ended last night in defeat for both.
Carry sought the Ward 1 seat and was defeated by Slover Foundation executive Adale Martin by 176 votes in a race where 1,469 votes were cast. In Ward 5, Broadbent was defeated by retired principal Lauren Campsen who accumulated 64% of the vote where 2,229 voters casting ballots.
Despite the historic nature of yesterday’s event as the first direct election of a School Board in Norfolk for decades and with City Council seats at stake, voter turnout was estimated at approximately 10%. This level of voter turnout is lower than the 13% recorded in the last municipal election held in Norfolk in 2014.
Both Carry and Broadbent addressed their supporters and volunteers at an election night party at MJ’s Tavern last night. In a post on social media this morning Carry said the following, “Thank you, everyone, for all the love and support. I’ve received so many emails, calls, texts, and messages from people locally, across the state and country. I’m not going anywhere, but I know you all already know that.#CarryNorfolkForward”
Both candidates are committed to remaining involved in the community, Broadbent said last night and in a social media post that, “I am not stepping aside from what I consider to be a personal drive to work for Norfolk’s children and for our community. I look forward to opportunities with Norfolk Public Schools in the future.”
Norfolk’s newly elected School Board will take their seats and assume their duties in July.
