UPDATE 12/8 6 am: – Mike Jones wins 70.9%-29.4%.
From the Jones campaign:
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From DPVA:
Delegate Mike Jones Wins SD-15 Firehouse Primary, Becomes Nominee to Hold Onto Ghazala Hashmi’s Seat
Richmond, Virginia — Today, Delegate Mike Jones won the Democratic nomination for State Senate District 15 seat being vacated by Lieutenant Governor-elect Ghazala Hashmi. With the special election set for January 6, 2026, Jones will begin his general election campaign.
Del. Jones currently represents House District 77. First elected to the House of Delegates in 2023, Delegate Jones has advocated for policies that benefit the health, safety, and well-being of all Virginians. With Democrats currently holding a 21-19 majority in the State Senate, it is critical that Delegate Jones is victorious in January.
“Mike Jones has shown through his work and leadership that he is deeply committed to serving Virginians and tackling the everyday challenges families face,” DPVA Chair Senator Lamont Bagby said. “He brings a steady, solutions-focused approach to public service, and he understands what it takes to make life more affordable and strengthen our communities. Keeping our Democratic majority in the Senate is critical to continuing that progress and I look forward to serving with him in the Senate.”
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UPDATE 10:25 am Thursday: The Richmond location is Hickory Hill Community Center, 3000 Belt Blvd. And the Chesterfield info is as follows:
UPDATE 9:45 am December 4: So…it’s now Thursday morning, and there’s apparently STILL no information publicly available for where/when/etc. the SD15 Democratic “firehouse primary” will be on Sunday in Richmond and Chesterfield. WTF???
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The elections never end in Virginia, right? I mean, since we have odd-year elections for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and House of Delegates, plus the usual even-numbered elections for US Senate (six-year terms), US House (two-year terms) and president (every four years), plus Democratic and Republican nomination contests, plus local elections, plus SPECIAL elections when someone resigns, dies, gets elected to another office, etc., that keeps things hopping most of the time, with rarely a dull moment politically speaking! In this case, just a few weeks since election day on November 4, we’ve now got a special election scheduled (see below for a screenshot of VA Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas’ announcement) for January 6, 2026 to fill the seat being vacated by State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-SD15), who was of course elected Lt. Governor.
Also note, as the announcement from Sen. Lucas explains, that the last day for candidates to file for that January 6, 2026 special election is December 7, this coming Sunday. Which means, of course, that Democrats and Republicans will have to select their nominees by then, so expect likely “firehouse” primaries this weekend (I’m hearing Sunday for the Democrats). By the way, it’s particularly important for Democrats to not have this seat be vacant, as currently Democrats hold only a narrow 21-19 majority in the State Senate – and after Sen. Hashmi’s resignation takes effect prior to her being sworn in as Lt. Governor, Democrats could theoretically be down to just a 20-19 majority. My understanding is that a constitutional amendment requires 21 votes out of 40 in the State Senate, so obviously that could be problematic if the seat were vacant for long, as Democrats are clearly aiming to pass the new redistricting amendment QUICKLY in January 2026, in order to get it in front of voters 90 days or so later. Hence the rush to get this seat filled.
As for SD15, this is a heavily “blue” district in Chesterfield County (77.5%) and Richmond City (22.5%), which Kamala Harris won by 28 points in November 2024, so it’s not a question of whether Democrats will hold it, only a question of who Democrats will nominate this Sunday, as that person is almost guaranteed of being the next State Senator from SD15. So far, the two Democratic candidates who appear to be the only ones running are Del. Debra Gardner and Del. Mike Jones. Each candidate has received multiple endorsements, including Sen. Hashmi for Jones and Sen. Lucas for Gardner. So we’ll see how this goes…but with just a few days until the weekend, there’s not much time to have a debate, send out mailers, raise money, inform voters, etc. Which could mean very low turnout and put a lot of pressure on each campaign to get *their* voters out to the polls. Stay tuned…
