Steven L. Brown

Vice Mayor. Hampton council is at-large (no wards). [2026-06 RESOLUTE refinement] Roster verified: Vice Mayor (selected by council 4-3 on Jan 8, 2025) and At-Large Hampton City Council member; second council term Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2026 (re-elected Nov 8, 2022; first elected July 1, 2018). Hampton officially nonpartisan; ballot label Independent. On the Nov 2026 ballot for re-election. RELIGIOUS PROFILE: B.A. Biblical Studies + M.A. Ministry + honorary doctorate + church associations (Calvary Community, Victory Life) — formal seminary/ministry credentials, but no public profession of Christ from the dais, no invocation/Sabbath/marriage stance, and no biblical-worldview policy statement located in available sources — notable absence for someone with formal credentials. HARD evidence: (1) APRIL 8, 2026 Hampton camping/sleeping-on-public-property ordinance passed 5-2 — Brown was one of the two NAMED NO votes (joined by CM Michelle Ferebee). No direct on-record Brown quote located explaining the NO; Ferebee's adjacent quote ('not the right solution') is the only contemporaneous rationale on the record — public-order ordinance, not framed as anti-police, so public_justice q0 stays null. (2) WAVY 2022 candidate profile, on his own record, framed youth gun violence as 'a national health crisis' and prescribed conflict-resolution training: 'I strongly believe we reduce gun violence when we teach our youth and adults to learn how to resolve conflict versus reacting by picking up a gun and settling your differences.' → public_justice q3 FALSE (explicit framing of violent crime — youth gun violence — as a 'national health crisis' is exactly the public-health framing the rubric q3 singles out as the contrary position). (3) FY26 Hampton budget May 2025 — Brown was in the 6-vote YES majority (Campbell lone NO); routine governance, not fiscal-restraint advocacy → economic_stewardship q2 null. CAMPAIGN POSTURE: Facebook page tagline (indexed snippet) reads 'leadership for a more progressive Hampton' — soft left self-identification, but the literal phrase alone does not satisfy any specific rubric cell. DEVIATION FLAGS: (a) The seminary/ministry credentials with NO documented public profession is a notable absence; the rubric's high bar (FXBG/Bell precedent) requires active public-square profession, which Brown has not delivered in available sources. (b) Public-health framing on gun violence is the single strongest single-cell signal in his record. (c) The April 2026 camping NO joined the local NAACP-aligned dissent against criminalization of homelessness — not a defunding-police statement. NO EVIDENCE FOUND on sanctity_of_life, biblical_marriage (Hampton sponsors Phabulous Phoebus Pride; no Brown individual vote/statement), family_child_sovereignty (no school-choice/parental-notification/CRT/SOGI statement; campaigned 2018 on fully funding K-12 — generic), christian_liberty (formal ministry credentials are biographical/educational, not active public-square Christian-symbols/profession statement per the high bar), economic_stewardship q2, election_integrity, public_justice q0/q1/q2/q4 (no pro-LE affirmative statement; no bail/restitution/sword-of-state position), refuse_state_overreach, border_immigration (Hampton rejected DHS sanctuary designation in May 2025 via Mayor Gray's letter; Brown made no individual statement), self_defense (gun-violence framing is public-health/conflict-resolution; no specific constitutional-carry or anti-red-flag/anti-AWB statement located).