RICHMOND, Virginia – State Senators Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) and Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) announced their campaigns for the seven-day primary for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District.
McClellan pitched herself as a natural successor to late Representative Don McEachin on Tuesday, and shortly afterward, Morrissey emphasized his legislative record and opposition to Democratic elites.
Delegate Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico) had already announced his campaign on Monday.
The district strongly favors Democrats and is unlikely to be won by a Republican anytime soon, making it desirable for Richmond Democrats who have gone as far as they can in the General Assembly.
Standing outside the Virginia Capitol with a small crowd of supporters, McClellan said her parents taught her to be a servant leader.
“Listening to their stories, I understood that my calling was to make government a force for helping people and solving problems. And that’s what motivated me to run for the House of Delegates 17 years ago. On the same Day, Donald McEachin was elected to his second term in the General Assembly. And we worked together serving the metro Richmond area, fighting for reproductive rights, climate action before it was cool, affordable housing, and access to health care, just to name a few issues,” she said.
“This is a bittersweet day for me as I continue to mourn a friend, but hear the call to carry on his legacy and to carry my servant leadership to Washington,” McClellan said.
Morrissey, flanked by several Petersburg officials, held his press conference outside the Petersburg City Hall.
“As many of you know, I’ve spent the last decade fighting for issues important to Virginians, like the environment, reforming our criminal justice system, investing in affordable housing, fighting for Virginia’s health care, and preventing gun violence,” he said.
Morrissey said, “I am a worker bee. If you’ve seen me around the General Assembly in the last decade, I work.”
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced a February 21 special election to fill the vacant seat on Monday, launching a timeline forcing the parties to pick their nominees by December 23. On Monday evening, district Democratic leadership voted for a firehouse primary on December 20. On Tuesday morning, Morrissey went on The John Fredericks Show and spent several minutes at his press conference criticizing the decision.
“The Fourth Congressional District Democratic Committee chose an unprecedented Tuesday special election nomination process. It will have the direct effect of chilling and limiting voter turnout. That’s what the Democratic party elites did. This decisions that they made last night is the most anti-working class, anti-Democratic, anti-women’s decisions since they Byrd era,” he said.
Morrissey said it would have been better to have a firehouse primary on Saturday.
After the press conference, Morrissey came back out of city hall to tell reporters, “If you remember in 2021, Jennifer McClellan cried sexism, the way Terry and the boys arranged the primary process. Remember, what did she say, this disenfranchises Black working women, not fair. But the same thing has happened now, and I’m calling on Jennifer to walk it back and say, ‘Listen, what I complained of them doing in 2021 when I was running for governor, they’re now doing again.'”
Earlier that morning, reporters at McClellan’s press conference asked her about concerns that weeknight firehouse primary could be undemocratic. She said the timing of Youngkin’s call left district Democrats “little choice.”
“I think mobilizing voters in less than a week would have been even more undemocratic,” later adding, “If anyone knows how to multitask, it’s a working mom.”
In a Monday Twitter campaign announcement, Bagby pitched his record, including work as chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
“No one will ever be able to replace Donald McEachin but I promised him, his wife Colette and his children that his legacy would live on forever. We will be thinking of him [as] issues like Environmental Justice and Criminal Justice Reform come up,” Bagby wrote. “I have always believed leadership starts with leading with a heart. We know that when we make investments in our community in areas like education it means we can reduce spending on Criminal Justice issues as crime will fall.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Editor’s Note: John Fredericks is the Publisher of The Virginia Star.Â
