Candidates for Virginia Senate By District

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Permalink Reply by Marta on March 24, 2011 at 3:15pm

Primary confirmed for the 37th Senate District
I just received word that Ralph Hubbard, the RPV Legislative District Chair for the 37th State Senate district, has informed the three candidates who have announced they will be running for the Republican nomination that he has selected an open primary as the nomination procedure for this race. The primary will be held on August 23, the primary date that was chosen by the General Assembly when they pushed back the primary dates due to redistricting this year.

The 37th State Senate seat, which was previously held by Ken Cuccinelli, is currently held by Democrat Dave Marsden, who won the seat in a special election last year against Steve Hunt.

Right now, we have three candidates who have announced in the 37th – Steve Hunt, who was defeated by Marsden in last year’s special election, local businessman and former Tim Hugo aide Jason Flanary, and Kerry Bolognese, who lost a very close special election to Eileen Filler-Corn in the 41st State House District last year. This race is the most contested of all of the local races in Northern Virginia, with three potential Republican candidates, two of whom have run for office before.

I have long been a fan of open primary elections, as they are more democratic and allow for the greatest amount of participation possible. Firehouse primaries and conventions generally don’t have the same kind of turnout as a regular primary, and folks who cannot get to the polls – like active duty military, those with long commutes, scheduling conflicts or those who are out of town – cannot participate. Open primaries allow for absentee voting.

We still don’t know exactly how the 37th is going to look, and we may not know for a little while yet. The General Assembly will not be back in Richmond for the reconvening of the special session until April 4, and we may not see publicly released maps and lines until then. Given that the State Senate Democrats will be doing the drawing, I think two things will be certain – the Democrats will put Dave Marsden’s house back in the district so he doesn’t have to pretend to live here anymore, and they won’t make the 37th any more favorable to Republicans than it is now.

Permalink Reply by Marta on March 24, 2011 at 3:18pm

In the 39th, Patricia Phillips from Loudon and Jack Black from Fairfax are both running.