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Special election date set for 71st House District seat

Posted at 6:05 PM, Jan 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-18 19:16:29-05

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, announced Wednesday a special election will be held on Tuesday, February 7 for Virginia’s 71st District House of Delegates seat.

The 71st House District includes downtown Richmond, the city’s North Side, and a portion on Henrico County.

The seat is available after longtime Democratic Del. Jennifer McClellan won a special election, earlier this month, to succeed Congressman Donald McEachin in the 9th Senate District.

“I want to thank Senator McClellan for her service in the House of Delegates. Jennifer has always been a thoughtful and fair-minded legislator and I look forward to continuing to work with her as a member of the Senate,” said Speaker Howell.

One day after McClellan won the 9th District Senate seat, Richmond School Board member Jeff Bourne announced his candidacy for her vacant Delegate seat.

Jeff Bourne

Jeff Bourne

Bourne, 40, has represented the 3rd district – Northside — on the city’s school board since 2012. He was selected by his peers to lead as chairman in 2013 and again in 2016.

Prior to then, he worked in former Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration as deputy chief of staff.

Bourne has already received endorsements from multiple elected officials and community leaders including State Senator McClellan, Attorney General Mark Herring, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, and Former Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton.

“On the School Board, I’ve worked to strengthen our schools and expand opportunities for Richmond’s kids,” Bourne said. “As Delegate, I want to do so much more. I’ll fight for new jobs, commonsense gun safety measures, equal pay, criminal justice reform and, of course, stronger schools.”

The deadline for candidates to file for the special election is January 24, 2017.

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