Photo illustration by Kyle Talley; images via Getty Images
Redistricting and a few surprising losses will make for interesting ballots when voting begins this September.
In the 13th Senate District, a new face will serve voters in Richmond and Petersburg after former Del. Lashrecse Aird ousted Sen. Joe Morrissey in June’s Democratic primary. She will face Republican Eric Ditri. In Chesterfield County’s 12th Senate District, Sen. Amanda Chase was defeated in a three-way race by former state Sen. Glen Sturtevant. He faces Democrat Natan McKenzie.
All 140 seats of the General Assembly are up in the Nov. 7 general election. Previous elections gave Republicans control of the House of Delegates and Democrats control of the Senate, both of which could change hands. Redistricting drove several members to retire rather than challenge the demographics of a redrawn district or face a bitter primary against a colleague. Among them are Dels. Dawn Adams and Jeff Bourne, Richmond-area Democrats who were grouped with veteran Del. Betsy Carr into the new 78th House District, which stretches from the city’s center westward to the University of Richmond and Stony Point Fashion Park. As of this month, Carr is running unopposed.
In-person early voting starts Sept. 22 and ends Nov. 4. The deadline to register to vote or update registration is Oct. 16.
