After running a solidly conservative race for the 13th Senate district Republican nomination, Loudoun Supervisor Geary Higgins won with 65.43% of the vote against Supervisor Ron Meyer. Many people had predicted it would be a close race but Higgins won handily. In Loudoun County, Higgins won with 62.53% of the vote and in the Prince William County section of the 13th, Higgin’s margin of victory was even higher, winning with 79.83% of the vote. Geary Higgins proved that conservative values can win a race and win by a large majority.
The biggest surprise of the evening was Joe Morrissey’s Senate race in Richmond. He knocked off incumbent Rosalyn Dance with 55.99% vote. Dance had the endorsement of all the establishment Democrats in Richmond and beyond. Morrissey won despite being pro-life and white in a majority Black district.
There is no Republican challenger in the race so Joe Morrissey will take a seat in the Senate next year.
Joe Morrissey has always claimed to be for the little guy. Morrissey has a very colorful past in Virginia politics, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
However, Morrissey’s reputation also includes a misdemeanor conviction of contributing to the delinquency of a minor involving relations with a then-17-year-old law firm employee, whom he later married. His wife, Myrna, has become a prominent figure in his campaign and introduced him at the campaign kickoff in early April at the Satellite Restaurant in South Richmond.
After the conviction, Morrissey resigned his 74th House District seat, reclaimed it in a special election, and then served a six-month jail term while serving as delegate during the day during the General Assembly session in 2015.
He lost a bid for mayor of Richmond in 2016.
The Virginia State Bar disbarred him — for the second time in his legal career — a year ago on a variety of misconduct allegations, but he asked the Virginia Supreme Court in April to dismiss the allegations against him and reinstate his license to practice law.
Morrissey expects to have his law license reinstated.
More on the Morrissey story here.