Key Facts
Background
Cathy “Cat” Porterfield is a former journalist who worked for newspapers, including military and non-profit news outlets. Her work included covering weekly and daily education and eventually serving as a publisher before leaving the industry in 2012. Porterfield has also obtained a real estate license and managed real estate [5].
Porterfield created a podcast with her husband called Project Toxic in order to shed light on issues facing the Virginia Beach community and help foster an environment that nurtures and preserves the city’s unique culture and landscape [2].
Key Issues
Water
Porterfield has stated that something was lost at the Virginia Beach Water Festival and said the city needs to consider how its identity affects revenue. She prioritizes flood response and calls on the city to stop developing wetlands, prevent the diversion of water to neighboring lands, and not sacrifice primary forests [5].
LGBTQIA+
Porterfield, a mother of a bisexual daughter, praised her friend Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler for coming out as bisexual. Porterfield believes it is important that people see themselves in their representatives and that the people of a given district are not all cisgender straight people [4].
Government
Porterfield believes Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle’s decision to fire Sgt. W. D. Fowler was due to politics and cronyism. This was after Fowler’s wife, Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler, expressed concern about a deputy of Stolle’s who participated in the Jan. 6 rally at the U.S. Capitol [2].
Community
Porterfield is against tightening noise ordinances, saying Virginia Beach’s character as a bustling city is at stake [6]. She is also against the conversion of the last patch of Windsor Woods to a parking lot [2].
Elections
Porterfield is in favor of the new 10-district system of elections in Virginia Beach and believes the old system was unfair [3].
Law Enforcement
Porterfield advocates for holding the police, judges, and sheriff’s deputies accountable [3].
Endorsements
No endorsements could be found.
Sources
1 VPAP
2 The Virginian-Pilot
3 Facebook
4 Advocate
5 ActressToday
6 The Roanoke Times