RICHMOND, Va. -- The date for a special election to fill the state senate seat of Congresswoman-elect Jennifer McClellan was set Wednesday and gives parties a short window to select their nominee.
McClellan, who won a special election Tuesday night to fill the 4th District Congressional seat of the late Rep. Donald McEachin, submitted a letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. L. Louis Lucas indicating she would resign her 9th District seat on March 7, 2023.
As McClellan submitted her resignation while the General Assembly was in session, Lucas is the one who sets the special election date to fill her seat.
On Wednesday afternoon, Lucas tweeted out that the special election would be held on March 28 and parties would have to nominate their candidates by Monday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. -- meaning, primaries will have to be conducted in less than a week.
"To ensure representation of the 9th Senate District for our veto session I have set the date of the special election for March 28th, which means parties have until this Monday to nominate their candidates. Get ready to vote this weekend!" tweeted Lucas alongside a photo of the letter.
Veto Day is set for April 12, when lawmakers take up any amendments by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to legislation passed this session. Democrats hold a 22-18 majority in the Senate.
"This is a district that is overwhelmingly Democratic and it is unlikely that the GOP could win it," said CBS 6 Political Analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth of the quick timeline. "For this reason the Democrats are taking every step to replace McClellan before the veto session, so they have 22 Democrats to vote up or down on the Governor’s amendments to the budget. The decision to hold a primary this weekend will place a premium on the candidates’ organizational skills and the capacity of their surrogates to motivate their supporters."
So far, three Democrats had declared their intention to run for McClellan's seat: Del. Dawn Adams, Del. Lamont Bagby, and Alexsis Rodgers (who finished second in 2020 for Richmond mayor and chairs the 4th District Democratic Committee which ran the special election to replace McEachin).
If either Bagby or Adams was to win, a special election with that need to be held to fill their House seats.
A spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPV) said the SD-09 Nominating Committee would determine how a candidate would be selected and the DPV would support them in that effort, including releasing details on their nominating process soon.
CBS 6 has reached out to the Republican Party of Virginia for comment about their plans. However, Republicans did not field a candidate in the 2019 election for the 9th District.
McClellan defeated Libertarian candidate Mark Lewis by over 60 percentage points.
CBS 6 has also reached out to the Libertarian Party of Virginia about their intentions for the special election as well.
When asked Wednesday morning about who she would endorse for her seat -- she deferred.
"Right now, I'm focusing on finishing out the session this weekend. working with the U.S. House and the [state] Senate clerk's offices on my transition," said McClellan. "There are a lot of great candidates running. I'll focus on that once I get through my next steps."
