CHESAPEAKE, Va. — There's a new sheriff in town: With all precincts reporting, Wallace Chadwick III has been elected to lead the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office after a contentious race between him and incumbent Dave Rosado.
Chadwick got 60% of the votes, results show, with the remaining votes being write-in votes — although it's unclear how many write-in votes were for Rosado.
Chadwick, a Marine veteran, has been with the Chesapeake Police Department for more than 20 years. The GOP candidate's campaign describes him as “your conservative for sheriff.”
Back in June, Chadwick defeated Rosado by about 16 points in the Republican primary. With no Democrats or Independents in the running, Chadwick seemed poised to serve as the city's next sheriff — until Rosado refused to concede and later announced his write-in campaign. Since Virginia law bans a candidate's name from being printed on the ballot following a primary loss, the only way he could win was through write-in votes.
Rosado's write-in effort started a heated race between the two: Rosado accused leaders within the Republican Party of Chesapeake of heavily influencing the primary election in favor of Chadwick and "creating a culture of exclusion and control."
Chadwick has also taken aim at his opponent's supporters, even calling them out in person: “I’ve been called many things, I’ve been called a racist by many people in this room, and those things are just not true," Chadwick said at a forum featuring him and Rosado last month.
For more election results, click here.
