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Trammell, Spinks and Lambert squeeze out victories in City Council races

Jeremy M. Lazarus | 11/5/2020, 6 p.m.
Tavarris J. Spinks, a specialist in information technology for health care, appears to have eked out a 26-vote victory to ...

Tavarris J. Spinks, a specialist in information technology for health care, appears to have eked out a 26-vote victory to claim the vacant 2nd District City Council seat, according to unofficial results released Wednesday.

Unofficial election results also show that Ann-Frances Lambert, a drone business owner and daughter of the late Richmond state Sen. Benjamin J. Lambert III, won a three-way contest to replace outgoing 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert.

If the results become official, the two apparent winners would join seven council incumbents who won re-election, although there is still controversy over the results in the 8th District that veteran Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell appears to have won.

Amy C. Wentz, one of two challengers in the 8th District race, said Wednesday she is not conceding because she is concerned about the accuracy of the unofficial tallies. She said results from one or more precincts are not tracking the internal information her campaign developed.

For example, Ms. Wentz cited unofficial results from Precinct 812, Branch’s Baptist Church, where only 178 votes were counted as voting in the race on Tuesday, while she said her campaign counted 638 voters entering the polling location.

In that contest, unofficial results show Ms. Trammell received 2,905 votes, or 45 percent. Ms. Wentz unofficially received 2,637 votes, or 40.8 percent, and Regie D. Ford received 904 or 14 percent, according to posted results.

Given the closeness of the 2nd District race, Mr. Spinks, 36, has not claimed victory, but stated instead that he preferred to wait until all the results are counted in the contest to replace current Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, who ran for mayor.

Mr. Spinks unofficially won 7,056 votes, while his rival, Katherine L. Jordan, 46, an urban and environmental planner, received 7,030 votes. The margin between them: About 2/100ths of a percent out of the 15,168 votes cast, including 82 write-in votes, allowing for a city-paid recount.

In the 3rd District, Ms. Lambert, according to unofficial results, received 3,834 or 37 percent of the vote to win over two rivals. Runner-up Elaine T. Summerfield received 3,628 votes, or 35 percent, while third-place finisher Willie E. Hilliard received 2,801 votes, or 27 percent.

In the other contested races, voters re-elected Andreas D. Addison, 1st District; Stephanie A. Lynch, 5th District; Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District; Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District; and Ms. Trammell, if the results hold up.

Two council members ran unopposed for re-election, Kristen N. Larson, 4th District, and Michael J. Jones, 9th District.