Race issue partly blamed in recall

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - The conclusions from the landslide election are unmistakable: By a greater than two-to-one margin, city voters said James Holley is not capable of doing the job they expect a mayor to do.

The votes were also noticeably weighted on each side according to race, with predominantly black districts siding with Holley, and predominantly white ones siding against.

"They want to keep it like it was and they can't," said Holley in an exclusive interview with WAVY.com.

No one mentioned "race" in the recall election more than Holley himself. In that interview on July 9, Holley complained that no buildings in the city of Portsmouth had been named for him.

"It's my skin," he said, pointing to his arm. "If I were white then I'd already been [recognized] all over the community...I believe it. It's the truth."

At a Holley campaign News conference on June 30, Campaign Manager and School Board member Dr. Mark Whitaker said race is the issue.

"[There are] attacks against our black leaders or community that are deeply seeded racial issues that others have not reconciled in their conscience nor in their actions," he said.

"It isn't just about race. It really is demeaning to these people [who supported the recall by those] who make it about race," said Robert Marcus, who organized the recall effort. He says race was not behind the recall campaign, but it was about Holley's inability to do the job.

"There will always be people who make it a racial issue. It's the easiest thing to claim and the toughest thing to disprove. People are getting more intelligent, and getting a little weary of [that claim]" said Marcus.

WAVY.com examined the top six performing precincts for each side. The average voter turnout for those wanting to recall Holley was 41 percent in those six precincts. In his top precincts, the average voter turnout was only 23 percent, which was below the city average of 26 percent.

"His base stayed home, and they failed to support him," Marcus said.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas acknowledged the deep racial divisions in Portsmouth and said racial unity must become a top priority.

"We need to pull this community back together. There has been some racial division. There have been some hurt feelings--a lot of things said. We need to unify the city back together," she said.

Robert Marcus received calls from all over the country in his effort to recall Holley. Many are asking him to run for city council himself. Marcus said he is not interested.