THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996               TAG: 9602090444
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                         LENGTH: Medium:   51 lines

CHESAPEAKE'S WARD SAYS HE HAS DECIDED TO SEEK RE-ELECTION

William E. Ward, a member of the City Council since 1978 and the first African American to be elected mayor here, has decided to run for re-election.

The announcement, which will be made at 6 p.m. today at the Holiday Inn-Greenbrier, came after much agonizing by Ward, a Democrat who has presided over a council that has changed dramatically as the city shifted into the Republican ranks.

It has been a tumultuous time for Chesapeake and its leaders: Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer resigned in April amid questions about his efforts on behalf of a woman with whom he had developed a personal relationship; a popular and longtime city employee, City Manager James W. Rein, was abruptly fired in October, despite Ward's support. And for a time, Ward said, he felt that he had been ignored by the Republican majority who took office in June 1994.

Ward, 62, said he did not commit to run again for mayor until December.

He said he finally decided that Chesapeake was at a crossroads, ``and from the ego's point of view, I wanted to be part of it.''

Ward, who moved to Chesapeake in 1963, came to the political front that decade organizing grass-root campaigns to get roads and sewers into some of the poorer areas of Norfolk and Chesapeake.

In 1972, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress.

Ward was elected to the City Council in 1978 after first being declared the sixth man in a five-seat race. Official counts discovered another 123 votes, and Ward was declared a winner 48 hours later.

In 1990, Ward was appointed the city's first black mayor after former Mayor David I. Wynne was ousted after a fraud conviction that was eventually overturned.

Ward was then elected mayor in 1992.

Ward, a history professor at Norfolk State University, is married to Rose M. Ward and has two children, both teachers in the Chesapeake school system.

He is the first to officially announce in Chesapeake's May council elections. Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance last month told city Republican leaders that he would not seek re-election but has made no formal declaration. Also to be filled in the election are the seats now held by John E. Allen and Dwight M. Parker. ILLUSTRATION: William E. Ward

KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE MAYORAL RACE CANDIDATE by CNB