Five senators lose primary challenges
A run down of the sitting Senators who lost Tuesday.
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Five senators lose primary races
Five members of the state Senate lost a primary race Tuesday as candidates ran in new boundaries for the first time since redistricting.
Sens. Joe Morrissey (D), Amanda Chase (R), George Barker (D), Chap Petersen (D), and Lionell Spruill (D) all had their reelection dreams dashed Tuesday night with newcomers earning the nomination in four of the five seats.
Sen. Lionell Spruill (D) lost to his Senate colleague Sen. Louise Lucas (D). They were drawn into the same district and are both heavyweights in the caucus. Lucas won by six points in the expensive primary. Both candidates raised and spent a lot of money trying to keep their seat in the Senate.
Lucas spent $1.4 million and Spruill spent $1.3 million according to VPAP. Dominion Energy gave Lucas $200,000 this year — they gave Spruill even more — $225,000.
Lucas did not release a statement but she published a picture on Twitter of her wearing boxing gloves with the caption “MOMMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT!”
The district leans Democratic according to VPAP.
Sen. Joe Morrissey (D) lost to Lashresce Aird (D) in a landslide victory for the former Petersburg delegate. Aird won by 39 points in the statement victory against Morrissey who has been scandal-plagued most of his political life.
Morrissey received virtually zero endorsements while Aird had the support of all of the women in the Senate Democratic caucus.
Aird drastically outraised Morrissey by bringing in $1.3 million during this year for the race. Clean Virginia gave her $275,000 and Sonjia Smith gave her $110,000.
Morrissey raised $169,720 this year. Dominion Energy gave him $110,000.
Aird focused on abortion as the main piece of her platform due to Morrissey’s suggestion that he would support additional restrictions on access in Virginia. Morrissey was even courting Republican voters in the final days of the race.
Aird says she will focus on protecting reproductive rights and prioritizing working families and ensuring women have a seat at the table.
“This is the power of electing responsible leadership,” she said Tuesday night. “Thank you for putting your faith in me. I promise you this is just the beginning.”
The district leans Democratic according to VPAP.
Sen. George Barker (D) lost to Stella Pekarsky (D) in the nomination battle for SD-36 by five points. Barker spent $939,280 trying to keep his seat compared to Pekarsky who only spent $458,748 according to VPAP.
Dominion Energy gave Barker $200,000 this year trying to help him keep his seat.
Clean Virginia gave Pekarsky $475,000 and Sonjia Smith gave her $90,000.
Redistricting took most of Barker’s former voters away from him.
This is a strong Democratic district according to VPAP.
Sen. Amanda Chase (R) lost in a close race to former Sen. Glen Sturtevant (R) for the SD-12 Republican nomination. Sturtevant won by roughly 1.5 points. Sturtevant received 8,493 votes and Chase received 8,153. Tina Ramirez also ran and received 4,874 votes.
Sturtevant had the support of the Republican establishment and their efforts to get rid of Chase. She had not caucused with Republicans in the Senate in years and she often pushed legislation that was to the right of where Republicans in Virginia have to be for success.
Sturtevant served one term in the state Senate before he lost to Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) in 2019. He ran a more moderate campaign in 2019 trying to win reelection in a bluer area and a lot of those actions were used as hits against him by Chase and Ramirez. But, in the end, Sturtevant won and will be in the state Senate once again.
Sturtevant raised $316,301 this year. His largest donor was Dominion Energy at $90,000.
Chase raised $140,044 this year and her largest donor was an individual that gave her $9,500.
“340 votes to victory. We were winning until the early voting were counted,” Chase said Tuesday night. She also said she is not conceding and will make a statement Wednesday.
This district leans Republican according to VPAP.
Sen. Chap Petersen (D) lost the SD-37 nomination battle to Saddam Salim (D) in the most surprising upset of the night. Salim won by 7.5 points against Petersen, who is considered by many to be the most conservative Democrat in the Senate.
Petersen helped spearhead the movement to reopen schools and remove mask requirements.
Petersen spent $856,092 trying to keep his seat compared to Salim’s $151,899 spent.
Clean Virginia gave Petersen $40,000 and was his top donor. Sonjia Smith was Salim’s top donor at $30,000.
Salim works at 11th Hour Service as a senior consultant advising federal clients, his website says.
"I am truly humbled by the community that rallied to support me in this race,” Salim said. “This was an incredible grassroots movement of constituents all across the district and we achieved this victory together. I look forward to being your Democratic nominee and continuing our fight for the issues that we care about: gun violence prevention, affordable housing, reproductive rights and so much more."
This district is a strong Democratic district according to VPAP.
A sixth senator, Sen. Jeremy McPike (D) appears to have narrowly escaped a loss in his primary against Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D). McPike is currently leading by 46 votes and Guzman said she is not conceding yet. “We look forward to allowing the process to play out, including the canvassing of the votes and the counting of provisional and outstanding absentee ballots,” said Zach Marcus, Guzman’s campaign manager.
Michael Bills, the founder of Clean Virginia commented on Virginia’s election results after heavily investing in some of these primary races. “I founded Clean Virginia to combat Dominion Energy’s unchecked political spending which has fueled egregious overcharges, skyrocketing electricity bills, and a woefully inadequate approach to the climate crisis,” Bills said. “It is an honor to support talented candidates who are challenging a powerful corporate monopoly that depends on its legislative influence to pocket excess profit from Virginia consumers.”
Candidates now have to turn to the general election. Although, for most of these nominees, the primary was the more competitive race.
