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Voters in the city of Richmond rejected a proposed casino for the second time in two years.
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Democrat Rodney Willett defeated Republican Riley Shaia in Virginia’s House of Delegates District 58 race in Henrico. Willett celebrates with his mother, Mary Willett (second from left), wife, Lydia Willett (right), and his campaign manager, Simone Archer-Krauss (left), at Rare Olde Times on Patterson Avenue.
Virginians on Tuesday rejected Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plea for continued legislative support, giving full control of the state legislature to Democrats and setting up Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, to be the state’s first-ever Black speaker of the House of Delegates.
The shift in power follows the reshaping of the state’s political landscape by the Supreme Court of Virginia. All 140 House and Senate seats were up for grabs, and redistricting drove 40 incumbents to retire, including Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment and former Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn.
“This win sends a message to Gov. Youngkin and to MAGA Republicans across the nation that there is no place for their extreme agenda in Virginia,” House Democratic Caucus Campaigns Chair Dan Helmer said in a statement.
In another key decision, the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino bet it all on the River City, but the $10 million campaign ultimately flopped with voters for a second time by a vote of 61.6% to 38.4%, a difference of 15,000 votes. Conceding the loss, the organization behind the $562 million project said in a statement that it was “proud to have run a community-centered campaign to create more opportunities for residents of this great city to rise into the middle class.”
Richmond officials, trying to win support for the casino, had also pledged to use tax revenue to create a child care program and new and upgraded parks. Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement that he “will continue to be a voice for communities that have been historically overlooked and underserved.” But the campaign hit a snag just days before the vote when supporters, including host Preston Brown, made racist and antisemitic remarks about opponents on a radio show featuring Urban ONE founder Cathy Hughes, a major stakeholder in the casino. Clips of the radio show were posted by the anti-casino group No Means No Casino.
Several tight races in the Richmond area were key to the blue wave, including Democratic Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg’s win of Henrico County’s 16th Senate seat over Republican Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, according to the Associated Press. In the 57th House District, however, Republican David Owen appeared to have bested Democrat Susanna Gibson with about 900 votes to represent western Henrico and eastern Goochland County.
South of Richmond, voters selected former Del. Lashrecse D. Aird to represent southeast Richmond, Hopewell, Petersburg and Waverly in the Senate over Republican Eric Ditri, and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi easily fended off a challenge from Republican Douglass Hayden Fisher. Lamont Bagby, who took over Jennifer McClellan’s Senate seat when she joined the U.S. House of Representatives, was unopposed in the city’s 15th District. In the 82nd House District, which stretches from Dinwiddie to Surry counties and has Petersburg at its center, Republican Del. Kim Taylor narrowly fended off a challenge from Democrat Kimberly Pope Adams. Democratic House candidates Del. Betsy Carr, Rae Cousins and Mike Jones ran unopposed.
In Henrico and Hanover counties, four House incumbents — Dels. Rodney Willett, Buddy Fowler, Scott Wyatt and Delores McQuinn — claimed victory, and Virginia AFL-CIO Communications Director Destiny LeVere Bolling was unopposed in northern Henrico’s 80th District. Residents west of Richmond picked Del. John McGuire for the 11th District Senate seat, though, according to Politico, McGuire may soon challenge U.S. Rep. Bob Good in the 2024 Republican primary.
Chesterfield County voters elected to return former state Sen. Glen Sturtevant to the chamber after he defeated Sen. Amanda Chase in the Republican primary and Democrat Natan McKenzie in the general election. Dels. Lee Ware and Mike Cherry won reelection, and Del. Carrie Coyner won with a slight lead over Stephen Miller-Pitts in the 75th District race. New representatives include Republican Mark Earley Jr. and Democrat Debra Gardner.
