The Virginia State Capitol. (Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Following Tuesday’s general election, in which Virginians sent two state senators to Congress, the commonwealth is preparing for special elections to fill the seats vacated by John McGuire, R-Goochland, and Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun.
McGuire, who is set to succeed U.S. Rep Bob Good, R-Farmville, in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, and Subramanyam, who was elected in the 10th Congressional District, have left a void in the Virginia Senate that each party will urgently work to fill.
These vacancies could have a significant impact on the state’s legislative balance, where Democrats currently hold a narrow 21-19 majority.
While the governor calls special elections in Virginia during recess of the legislature, Christian Martinez, a spokesman for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, said in a text message that because the General Assembly remains in special session from last May, the authority to call special elections rests with the leaders of each respective chamber — which in the case of the Senate is Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, the body’s President Pro Tempore.
“The governor strongly believes all Virginians should be represented during the legislative session and trusts that Democratic leadership will call those elections in time to ensure all Virginians are represented,” Martinez said.
State law requires that a date for a special election to fill a vacancy be set within 30 days of the vacancy or receipt of notification of the latter, whichever comes first. If the vacancy occurs between Dec. 10 and March 1, “the writ shall order the special election to be held no more than 30 days from the date of such vacancy.”
In Senate District 10, which includes 11 localities and extends from Lynchburg in the west to the Richmond suburbs in the east, former state senator Amanda Chase, who had served in the body for eight years and lost her 2023 GOP primary in her Chesterfield-based seat to Sen. Glen Sturtevant, has already announced her bid.
Because the law requires state legislators reside in the district they represent, Chase has moved from her former home in Chesterfield County to Appomattox County.
Shayne Snavely, Chase’s former aide who worked on her bid for the Republican nomination for governor three years ago, has also declared his intention to run. And so have Jean Gannon, a Powhatan County real estate appraiser and longtime Republican activist, and Duane Adams, the chairman of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, who ran for the Republican nomination in the district in 2023 but lost to McGuire.
David Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg, said that Chase may be the top contender among the Republican candidates in the 10th District.
“Chase has made waves, but local GOP officials say she is no longer in the party, which would really complicate things,” Richards said, referring to an intra-party controversy over allegations that the former senator had violated state party rules.
No Democrat has announced a bid in the Republican-leaning district to date.
In the 32nd District, Del. Kannan Srinivasan, D-Loudoun, formally announced his bid on Wednesday, along with Hurunnessa Fariad, the director of outreach at Multi-Faith Neighbors Network (MFNN) and the secretary of the board of directors at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Buta Biberaj, a former commonwealth’s attorney for Loudoun County, has also announced her bid for the seat, as well as Ibraheem Samirah, a former state delegate, also from Loudoun.
Other Democratic candidates include Sree NagiReddi, an Ashburn-based IT professional and small business owner, and Puja Khanna, a Loudoun County mental health advocate who ran unsuccessfully for the county’s board of supervisors in 2023..
“The name I see mentioned most often is Srinivasan, which would then involve a special election in House District 26 later on,” Richards said.
“Lots of other Democrats are emerging in this blue district,” he added, “but I expect some Republicans to throw their names in after the relatively good showing of the GOP statewide last Tuesday. The GOP might be looking for a pickup here, not sure they will get it.”
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