Tillage, Lucas-Burke Lead Portsmouth Council Race

Unofficial results show the two candidates poised to win at-large City Council seats while voters rejected a school sales tax.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections

Tillage, Lucas-Burke Lead Portsmouth Council Race

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Would you support a local sales tax increase to fund school construction in your area?

Tillage and Lucas-Burke appear poised to win two at-large Portsmouth City Council seats, according to unofficial results reported Tuesday night. Voters also rejected a local sales tax of up to 1% for school capital projects.

Why it matters

The results determine who will hold two of the five at-large seats on Portsmouth's council and leave the city without the additional school funding the sales tax would have provided. Provisional ballots remain outstanding, so the final picture could still shift.

Unofficial results show Tillage at 26% and Lucas-Burke at 21% in the five-person at-large race, with Moody and Whitaker each near 17.6% for the third seat. Provisional ballots remain uncounted, and Whitaker's margin is within the 1% recount threshold.

The players

Portsmouth City Council

The city's governing body, which will gain two new at-large members from this race and oversees city budgets and policy for Portsmouth, Virginia.

Portsmouth Public Schools

The city's public school district, which would have received about $13 million in annual revenue had the sales tax passed.

The details

Hugel is poised to finish fifth with 16.7% of the vote in the at-large race. Four at-large school board seats were also up for election, and voters rejected the proposed sales tax, which the city had estimated would add about $13 million in annual revenue for Portsmouth Public Schools.

Election held November 3, 2026; unofficial results reported at 10:35 p.m. that night.
Provisional ballots remain to be counted in the coming days.

Political Context

Voters declined a local sales tax under Virginia's local option taxing authority for school capital projects, signaling resistance to new local levies. The at-large council race results will determine how the city's new members approach school funding in future budgets.

Portsmouth residents should expect the two winners to take office on the council, shaping decisions on city budgets and services. With the sales tax rejected, school capital projects will need funding from other sources.

The takeaway

Election outcomes on local councils often hinge on a few hundred votes, so checking the final certified count matters for anyone tracking Portsmouth's direction.