Virginia Beach is tilted conservative, besides being in the South, because it is a heavily military contractor supported area.
Not entirely. The military has a big presence (including a significant number of veterans), but you've also got Pat Robertson and Regent University, as well as a lot of country club Republicans along the north end of the oceanfront and the rural conservative types who live in the southern part of the city (which is still largely undeveloped). In any other state, the latter two groups wouldn't be within the city limits, they'd be in the suburbs.
In a more general sense, the reason Virginia Beach is a conservative city is because it's not really a city; there's no urban center, it's a collection of subdivisions and strip malls.
