Joe Morrissey Re-elected to the House of Delegates

Despite being in the middle of a six month jail sentence following conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor for his relationship with a 17 year old girl (who is pregnant), Delegate Joe Morrissey has won re-election in a special election to fill his seat in the 74th House district. [read_more] After Morrissey was convicted he immediately resigned as a delegate, then quickly vowed to run in the special election called to fill his seat. The 57 year old Morrissey ran as an independent after democrats failed to endorse him.  (You can’t make this stuff up, no one would believe it.)

With all precincts reporting Morrissey won 42% of the vote, democrat Kevin Sullivan 33% and republican Matt Walton 24%.

House Speaker Bill Howell issued the following statement about Morrissey’s re-election,

“Mr. Morrissey’s election tonight does not change the fact that his actions fall grievously short of the standards of a public servant in the House of Delegates. As Speaker, I have an obligation to faithfully and impartially discharge my duties as presiding officer and a responsibility to protect the honor and integrity of the House of Delegates as an institution. There are a number of options available to the body to address questions of conduct regarding its members.”

Democrats in the House also expressed their concerns about Morrissey. House Minority Leader David J. Toscano (D-Charlottesville) and Democratic Caucus Chairman Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) issued this statement,

“Joe Morrissey chose to run as an Independent; he is not a member of the Democratic Party, nor is he a member of the House Democratic Caucus. His conviction and actions over the past two months were reprehensible, and we will be exploring every avenue in regard to his status as a member of the House of Delegates,”

Should Morrissey be expelled from the House of Delegates another special election would be called in what has to the district with the most uninformed voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Charges against Joe Morrissey here. 

More on the story here and here,