THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602090190
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Mayor William E. Ward announced Friday that he will seek re-election.
Ward, a 62-year-old Democrat, has served on Chesapeake City Council since 1978. During that election, Ward was initially declared the losing sixth-man in a race for five open seats. However, after official canvassing found 123 uncounted votes for Ward, he was declared a winner 48 hours after being declared a loser.
He was appointed the city's first black mayor in 1990 after the ouster of former Mayor David I. Wynne following a fraud conviction that was later overturned. He won the seat in 1992 by defeating Bruce H. Kushner, a Republican challenger.
Ward ran for Congress in 1972 and lost. He said that he once had aspirations to serve in the General Assembly.
He has lived in Chesapeake since 1963 and began his public life as a grass-roots political organizer, helping to bring sewer and roads to poorer neighborhoods in Chesapeake and Norfolk.
Ward is a history professor at Norfolk State University. He is married to Rose M. Ward and has two children, both teachers in the Chesapeake School System. ILLUSTRATION: Ward
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE CHESAPEAKE MAYORAL RACE by CNB