VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Incumbent City Councilman John Uhrin has filed a court motion contesting that David Nygaard does not actually live in the Beach district, making him unqualified to represent the seat on city council.
Nygaard defeated Uhrin by 212 votes in the November election, but Uhrin has requested a recount.
In the court filing, an attorney for Uhrin writes that Nygaard actually lives in the Lynnhaven district and signed a lease for a duplex on 20th Street at the Oceanfront, but didn’t actually live there.
David Nygaard, Virginia Beach City Council Beach District
After the election, the attorney says Nygaard decided to rent at apartment on Pavilion Drive, but again does not actually live there.
“He cannot hold the office of City Council member because he was not legally able to qualify to run for that office, and to this day is not legally able to vote for or hold that office,” attorney Alan Albert writes.
In response, Nygaard said Uhrin is asking a judge to “achieve what he could not achieve on Election Day, in an undemocratic outrageous abuse of the legal system through malicious legal moves and disenfranchising the 48,000 voters who voted for me.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle also investigated the allegation, but in an October letter said there was “insufficient evidence” that Nygaard was lying.
The Nygaard campaign expects the issue to be addressed during a hearing next week. The recount is set to begin on December 17th.
