Republicans encourage supporters to vote for Morrissey
Morrissey is trying against to garner GOP support during a Democratic nomination process
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Republicans encourage voters to support Morrissey
State Sen. Joe Morrissey (D) once again has Republicans trying to help him in a Democratic nomination process. Two prominent Republicans in Central Virginia are encouraging their supporters to vote for Morrissey over Lashresce Aird in the Democratic primary Tuesday.
Riley Ingram Jr. also sent out a letter in support of Morrissey.
Neither Slaybaugh nor Ingram actually live in the district that Morrissey and Aird are running.
"At a time when voters need strong Democratic leadership most, Joe is abandoning the values of the families of SD-13 for self-preservation,” Aird said in a statement Thursday. “This desperate attempt for votes is emblematic of someone who knows that Democratic primary voters no longer tolerate his positions or behavior."
Morrissey is running for reelection in a redrawn district that includes part of Henrico.
“We object to Republican activists interfering in our primaries,” the Henrico Democratic Committee said Thursday morning. “This behavior is inappropriate and demonstrates a lack of respect for the democratic process.”
Henrico Supervisor Tyrone Nelson (D) also commented on the actions by Republicans to try and convince voters to support Morrissey. “Smh. This is the Supposed Democrat that we want representing Eastern Henrico. We don’t want Republicans deciding who our representatives are.”
Morrissey has not officially received any endorsement from Democrats across the commonwealth. Local Petersburg leaders have supported him, but those same Petersburg leaders quietly supported Republican Kim Taylor when she ran against Aird in 2021.
Morrissey tried this strategy in December when he ran against Jennifer McClellan for the VA-04 congressional nomination. It was unsuccessful as Morrissey lost to McClellan in a landslide.
Voting in the other party’s primary is not a new concept. Anyone can participate in a state-run primary. However, you can only participate in one party’s primary and there will always be a record of your participation. This is often a disqualifying factor for a voter if they plan to vote in a party-run nomination process in the future.
For instance, when you register to participate in a party-run nomination convention, the committee in charge of running the convention will check the history of each participant to ensure that the other party is not trying to infiltrate the convention and impact the results.
A Republican operative who is heavily involved in Virginia politics commented on the irony of Republicans encouraging supporters to participate in a Democratic primary.
“A party that still considers ‘loyalty oaths’ necessary to ensure purity in nomination methods is now encouraging Republicans to vote in Democratic state primaries,” the operative said Thursday. “All to benefit a Democrat who sponsored a bill to ban legal firearms, voted against holding fentanyl dealers accountable, and blocked tougher penalties for career criminals. And that was just this most recent session.”
Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker criticized Republicans for trying to meddle in a Democratic primary. “Instead of fielding electable candidates of their own, Republicans have opted to meddle in our elections,” Swecker said Thursday. “Y’all worry about your party and I’ll worry about mine.”
Primary day is June 20.
Why Democratic officials won’t let a would-be candidate run for the Virginia House - Virginia Mercury
by Graham Moomaw
Lipscomb has pointed to a party rule that allows the Democratic nominating committee to declare her the nominee without a caucus. However, party officials don’t appear to be budging.
Lipscomb said she didn’t step forward for the seat until April 24, but she thinks she has “a shot” to be competitive with Marshall if the party would give her a chance.
“What’s the point of the Democratic Party if you’re not going to fight for a Democratic person or even try to train one up to get ready to do it?” she said. “Where’s the leadership? Where’s the guidance?”
State Senate veterans face stiff primary challenges in Virginia - WaPo
by Laura Vozzella
As they battle each other in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for a Northern Virginia state Senate seat, George L. Barker and Stella Pekarsky can’t agree on the most fundamental question: Which one of them is the incumbent?
Is it Barker (Fairfax), 71, who has been in the Senate since 2008 but has represented only a sliver of the newly drawn 36th District? Or Pekarsky, 44, who’s never served in Richmond but claims more than half of the district as a Fairfax County School Board member?
Veteran Democratic Powerbrokers Face Off In Hampton Roads Senate Primary - Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism
BY LOUIS HANSEN, JIMMY CLOUTIER AND RYAN MURPHY
It’s been decades since two Hampton Roads Democratic state senators, Louise Lucas and Lionell Spruill, were out of the public eye. Lucas launched her political career in Virginia by winning a Portsmouth City Council seat in 1984. Spruill, a Chesapeake native, first won a seat in the Virginia General Assembly in 1994.
Both legislative stalwarts rose from poor backgrounds to become ambitious, long-standing powerbrokers in southeastern Virginia. On June 20, one will be out of a job.
Court-drawn redistricting forced the two Democrats to compete for the same position. Redistricting has spurred widespread retirements and a spate of competitive primaries in the 140 Virginia General Assembly seats on the ballot this year. The 18th Senate district sought by Spruill and Lucas may be the key to deciding the power structure in the upper chamber for the next decade, said Eric Claville, a political commentator and government relations executive from Norfolk State University.
Legislator-in-waiting ready to tackle key issues in Richmond - Gazette Leader
by Scott McCaffrey
A political dictum holds that candidates running for office should be one of two things: unopposed, or scared. But circumstances have placed Adele McClure middle somewhere in the middle.
McClure goes into next week’s Democratic primary as one of two names on the ballot for the new 2nd District House of Delegates seat. Her opponent, Kevin Saucedo-Broach, dropped out after ballots had been prepared, meaning the primary goes on but voters will be notified that he is no longer running.
