by Morris Meyer
Activate Virginia has been doing great work for the last few years to advocate for cleaning up money in politics, and tracking candidate recruitment across Virginia.
Per Activate Virginia tracking, there are currently 81 House of Delegates districts with Democratic incumbents and/or candidates (note: this includes pending announcements) and 34 State Senate districts with Democratic incumbents and/or candidates. At the moment, there remain 19 House of Delegates seats (out of 100) and 6 State Senate seats (out of 40) without Democratic candidates.
In eight of the House of Delegates seats (HD17, HD30, HD54, HD60, HD64, HD65, HD76, HD78) and two of the State Senate (SD14 and SD20), Tim Kaine ran at or above 40% in 2018. Among these, HD54 (50% Tim Kaine, 46% Ralph Northam), HD76 (51% Tim Kaine, 50% Ralph Northam), SD14 (44% Tim Kaine, 43% Ralph Northam), and SD20 (44% Tim Kaine, 41% Ralph Northam) are all districts that could use strong Democratic challengers. Here are the exact numbers for all eight House of Delegates districts and two State Senate districts.
HD 17 (incumbent Republican Del. Christopher Head) in Roanoke and Botetourt voted 39.2% for Northam in 2017 and 41.7% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 30 (incumbent Republican Del. Nick Freitas) in Orange, Culpepper, and Madison voted 37.9% for Northam in 2017 and 40.9% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 54 (incumbent Republican Del. Bobby Orrock) in Spotsylvania and Caroline voted 46.1% for Northam in 2017 and 49.7% (!) for Kaine in 2018.
HD 60 (incumbent Republican Del. James Edmunds) in Halifax, Prince Edward, Charlotte, and Campbell voted 40.5% for Northam in 2017 and 44.0% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 64 (incumbent Republican Del. Emily Brewer) in Isle of Wight, Prince George, Suffolk, Surry, Southampton, Franklin, and Sussex voted 39.9% for Northam in 2017 and 41.4% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 65 (incumbent Republican Del. Lee Ware) in Chesterfield, Powhatan, Goochland, and Fluvanna voted 38.0% for Northam in 2017 and 40.9% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 76 (incumbent Republican Del. Chris Jones) in Suffolk and Chesapeake voted 49.8% for Northam in 2017 and 51.1% (!!) for Kaine in 2018.
HD 78 (incumbent Republican Del. Jay Leftwich) in Chesapeake voted 44.1% for Northam in 2017 and 45.7% for Kaine in 2018.
SD 14 (incumbent Republican Sen. John Cosgrove) in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Southampton, and Franklin voted 42.7% for Northam in 2017 and 44.2% for Kaine in 2018.
SD 20 (incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Stanley) in Henry, Danville, Halifax, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Carroll, Franklin, Martinsville, and Galax voted 40.7% for Northam in 2017 and 43.8% for Kaine in 2018.
Every Democrat in these cities and counties should take a few minutes to consider the exemplary folks in their community who might make a stellar Democratic candidate. Nobody wants to see Democratic control of Richmond being decided, as it was in 2017 in the Shelly Simonds (D) vs. David Yancey (R) race, by drawing a name out of a bowl. So let’s fill every seat we can in 2019!
Not counting districts with impending announcements for candidates, here are the other districts that still are in need of a stalwart Democratic challenger.
HD 3 (Republican incumbent Del. Will Morefield) in Tazewell, Bland, Buchanan, Russell voted 22.8% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 4 (No Republican incumbent, as Del. Todd Pillion is running for State Senate) in Washington, Russell, Dickenson, and Wise voted 28.4% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 6 (Republican incumbent Del. Jeff Campbell) in Carroll, Wythe, and Smyth voted 25.8% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 9 (Republican incumbent Del. Charles Poindexter) in Franklin, Patrick, and Henry voted 30.1% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 19 (Republican incumbent Del. Terry Austin) in Botetourt, Bedford, Allegheny, and Covington voted 29.9% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 23 (Republican incumbent Del. Scott Garrett) in Lynchburg, Bedford, and Amherst voted 38.9% for Kaine in 2018.
HD 98 (Republican incumbent Del. Keith Hodges) in Gloucester, Middlesex, Essex, Mathews, King & Queen, and King William voted 38.4% for Kaine in 2018.
SD 15 (Republican incumbent Sen. Frank Ruff) in Pittsylvania, Mecklenburg, Prince George, Halifax, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Charlotte, Lununberg, Brunswick, Campbell, and Danville voted 36.5% for Kaine in 2018.
SD 23 (Republican incumbent Sen. Steve Newman) in Bedford, Cambell, Lynchburg, Botetourt, Roanoake, and Craig voted 29.9% for Kaine in 2018.
P.S. The last day to file for candidates to file (link) for the June Democratic primary is Thursday, March 28th.
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