Dem
51
GOP
49
On Tuesday, the Virginia Democratic Party held a hastily organized firehouse primary to select its nominee to replace the recently deceased Rep. Donald McEachin. State Sen. Jennifer McClellan was the preferred candidate of the establishment, and it is establishment types that tend to show up for an election like this, since it is sorta inside baseball. It is therefore not much of a surprise that McClellan won in a walk, taking 85% of the vote to 15% for state Sen. Joe Morrissey (and the remaining 1% split between two other candidates).
When we previously wrote about this election, we suggested that Morrissey's somewhat checkered past could make him vulnerable to defeat, should he claim the nomination, despite the fact that VA-04 is very blue (D+16). Several readers wrote in to correct us on that. For example, reader I.D. in Richmond:
As a current resident of VA-04 I thought I might provide a little local background. There's no question the state Democratic establishment wants no part of a Joe Morrissey win, but they're much more worried about him winning the primary rather than the actual special election if he manages to make it that far. This is because he would almost certainly become the Republicans' go-to answer whenever anything unsavory came up regarding, say, Matt Gaetz or Marjorie Taylor Greene.
However, while Fightin' Joe is definitely icky, he's also indisputably a very effective politician and genuinely liked for the work he's willing to do for his constituents. Combine that with the fact that he's been involved in Richmond politics for decades and that he's quite well known for pounding the pavement, and there's a near-zero chance of him losing to any Republican in the district. He's certainly capable of being an albatross around the neck of the Democrats at the national level, though, thus their clear preference for Jennifer McClellan (aside from her own merits, of which there are many).
Thanks for the clarification, I.D. (and others who wrote in)!
In any event, McClellan is a shoo-in to win when the election is held on Feb. 21 of next year. When she does, Virginia will have its first-ever Black woman representatives, while the House Democratic caucus will be back to full strength. (Z)