Money, Message And Momentum Define The 89th District Race In Chesapeake

By Nick Mossman, Virginia Mercury

October 31, 2025

One of Virginia’s most competitive House of Delegates races is heating up in Chesapeake, where two sharply contrasting candidates are pitching plans to ease the cost of living and strengthen public education.

The race for Virginia’s House District 89 — represented by Del. Baxter Ennis, R-Chesapeake, who announced in February that he wouldn’t seek reelection — is now wide open.

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The district generally leans Democratic but has swung between parties in recent years. It backed Donald Trump in 2016, Glenn Youngkin in 2021 and Kamala Harris by just under three points in 2024. The Virginia Public Access Project ranks it among the 10 most competitive House contests this year.

Democrat Kacey Carnegie, an attorney, and Republican Mike Lamonea, a Chesapeake school board member and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, are offering voters starkly different ideas for tackling rising costs and improving schools.

Carnegie has outraised her opponent by more than $700,000, pulling in over $1.7 million in campaign contributions, according to VPAP. Much of that came from the House Democratic Caucus, which has poured $850,000 into her campaign since late August. As of Oct. 23, Lamonea has raised just over $1 million.

Top issues

Both candidates have made affordability central to their platforms.

In a recent phone interview with the Virginia Mercury, Carnegie said raising the minimum wage would help ease financial pressures for Virginians.

“Individuals who are working 40 hours a week, making minimum wage, do not make enough to survive,” Carnegie said.

She said she supports a “tiered system” to raise the minimum wage and pointed to climbing home and grocery costs as major burdens for 89th district voters.

Home and rent prices in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk area, which generally track the national average, have risen steadily since 2015.

“If someone wants to live in Chesapeake, if someone wants to live in Suffolk, they should have that option.” Carnegie said. “They shouldn’t be priced out.”

Lamonea’s campaign, which responded to questions from The Mercury via email, said affordability is the top issue for voters heading into Election Day.

“Families are struggling to make ends meet while Richmond politicians keep adding more taxes and regulations,” Lamonea wrote. “We need to make Virginia more affordable — by permanently eliminating the grocery and car taxes, supporting small businesses, and keeping energy costs low.”

He said cutting grocery and car taxes in particular would deliver quick relief.

“Working families are stretched thin, and those taxes hit everyone,” Lamonea wrote. “Cutting them would make an immediate difference in people’s lives and show that Virginia is serious about lowering costs and helping families thrive.”

Education platforms

Both candidates call education policy a top priority.

Lamonea highlighted his record on the school board, where he said he helped raise teacher and staff pay, improve school safety and expand technical education programs. In March 2024, the board approved a budget increasing pay for teachers and administrative staff.

“Every student deserves a path to success — whether that’s college, a trade, or military service — and I’ll keep fighting to make that a reality across Virginia,” Lamonea wrote.

Carnegie said she would focus on reducing class sizes and boosting teacher pay, listing education investment as one of her top campaign priorities.

“A strong future starts with strong public schools,” her campaign website reads.

Lamonea’s website says he would “ensure parents have a voice in their children’s education, protect classrooms from political agendas, and expand mental health resources for students.”

The stance echoes Youngkin‘s 2021 campaign message that parents should have greater influence over what their children are taught.

The candidates’ backgrounds

Carnegie said that she draws inspiration from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — whose dissent collar she has tattooed on her arm — “along with the number nine on top of it.”

She said Ginsburg inspired her to become an attorney and “give back to the community.” Her office, she added, is covered with Ginsburg memorabilia.

“Everything from a bobblehead to wine bottles to quotes, because she was such a pioneer in protecting individuals’ rights and making sure that people were heard and not forgotten,” she said. “That’s really what my campaign is focused on.”

Lamonea’s path to politics has been different. Before joining the school board, he worked as a special agent for ICE and later with Homeland Security investigations to “get narcotics, human traffickers, child predators, and violent gangs off our streets.”

“I believe my background is not only a benefit to my campaign — it is more importantly a benefit to our community,” Lamonea wrote.

Virginia voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to choose a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 members of the House of Delegates. The 89th district race is one of several that could decide control of the chamber.

Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-48 majority. A Democratic pick-up in the 89th District would expand that edge, while a Republican hold would strengthen the GOP’s push to retake the chamber it lost in 2023.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit VirginiaMercury.com.