Candidates for Hopewell City Councilors in Ward 7 after councilor suspended, found guilty of embezzling public money
VENN
HOPEWELL, Va. (WRIC) -- The candidates for the Hopewell City Councilors in Ward 7 have been announced after the current city councilor was found guilty of public money embezzlement in late July.
8News previously reported that on July 31, city councilor Dominic Holloway was suspended after being found guilty of felony embezzlement of public funds, per city attorney Anthony Bessette.
During his suspension, the city council created a list of candidates to possibly take his place. The city will file an amended petition asking the judge to decide who should fill the seat, either from the list or elsewhere.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 12, the folllowing are the candidates for the city councilor:
- Anthony Bennett Jr. -- Hopewell Redevelopment and Housing Authority
- Patience Bennett -- The former city mayor, who previously served on the council. She is a member of the Planning Commission and Wetlands Board.
- Patrick Mason -- EMT instructor
- Lovena Rapole -- Serves on the Keep Hopewell Beautiful Board.
Patience Bennett previously launched a "write-in" campaign against Holloway when he was running unopposed for the Ward 7 seat.
"I don't want to talk about the person that's running now," Bennett said in an interview with The Progress-Index, referring to Holloway, back in October 2022. "I just want to talk about how we need appropriate representation, and with the things that are happening now, stuff we're hearing that's coming out about the other candidate, that just makes me feel like I have a responsibility to continue."
This comes despite more than a year remaining until the end of Holloway's term on Dec. 31, 2027.
On Wednesday, July 30, Hopewell petitioned the court to seek a judge’s order to suspend Holloway from his position, but a Virginia law already made his suspension active due to his conviction.
If Holloway does not file an appeal, his suspension will end and he will forfeit his city councilor seat.
