Half of Virginia legislators are paired with an incumbent in the redistricting proposal
A look at which districts have two incumbents under the newly proposed maps.
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Governor Northam pardoned the woman that murdered Rusty Mack in 2013 by kicking him in the head while he was being jumped by four people
Governor Northam granted a conditional pardon to Blair Dacey, the woman who was convicted in the murder of Rusty Mack in Colonial Heights in 2014. The case is complicated as a lot of people within the Colonial Heights community knew Rusty and the group of individuals that killed him.
The night Mack was attacked, Dacey and three other individuals that were all older than her went to Mack’s house to confront him. The group of four, two women and two men were confronting Mack due to an issue between him and his ex. Macl’s ex and her boyfriend were in the group of four with Dacey.
A fight ensued at some point in front of Mack’s apartment just off of the Boulevard near the post office in Colonial Heights. Towards the end of the fight, Dacey kicked Mack in the head. The blow to his head would eventually kill him days later.
Though they were all arrested, Dacey was the only of the four individuals involved in that night to be convicted. She was 18 years old in 2014 when a judge sentenced her to 20 years.
The three other individuals involved have largely disappeared from the Colonial Heights community since Mack’s death.
State Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) was the attorney that represented Ashley Mack (Rusty’s ex) in her case and Morrissey helped Dacey navigate the process to receive this pardon.
A Facebook page honoring Rusty Mack commented on the news Thursday. “Convicts helping convicts!! Within 48 hrs of the family getting the first call...its a done deal!! It took Rusty longer to die than it took the governor to issue this conditional pardon....simply disgusting!!!
Executive Schedule
First Lady Northam is visiting with the FRIENDS Association for Children in Richmond this morning
Governor Northam is visiting a holiday open house at Fort Lee at 10 am.
Governor Northam to continue 'Thank you, Virginia' Tour with public safety announcement at the Belltower in Richmond
Governor Northam is planning to celebrate historic work providing second chances at the Emancipation and Freedom Monument on Brown’s Island this afternoon.
Public comment on the redistricting maps
Redistricting has caused a lot of chaos in Virginia but overall the maps look to benefit Democrats in the state legislative districts while causing trouble for a few of Virginia’s Democratic members of Congress.
The maps were submitted by two special masters appointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia to create them. The court is now asking for public feedback on the maps in two separate hearings next week.
If you are interested in participating in the public hearings that are taking place between 1 pm and 4 pm on Dec. 15 and Dec. 17, email the court at Redistricting@vacourts.gov with your request.
Half of Virginia’s state legislators are drawn into a district with another legislator in the new proposals
In the meantime, the special masters said in their memo Wednesday that they did not take incumbency location into consideration. As a result, close to half of Virginia’s 140 state legislators were drawn into districts with other elected incumbents under these proposals.
“The Statutory Criteria make no mention of protecting incumbents,” the special masters said in their memo about the proposal. “We therefore maintained ignorance about the residences of incumbents. Even as we submit these plans to the Court, we do not know which incumbents have been placed in districts with other incumbents, with one exception described below. We plan on maintaining that ignorance until the maps are finally approved, unless otherwise instructed by the Court”
Below is a list of the Virginia state legislators that are now paired with at least one other incumbent according to information uploaded by the Virginia Public Access Project.