It’s the second week of 2023, and with it comes a second week of special elections. Voters in Virginia and Mississippi are voting to fill vacancies in four state legislative districts. Since both Virginia and Mississippi have not run regular state legislative elections since their most recent redistricting occurred, all races are being run under old district lines drawn before the 2020 census. Both states will run regular state legislative elections in 2023. DDHQ will have election results for each contest below once their polls close.
Virginia State Senate District 7
The seat in Virginia’s 7th State Senate District is vacant after Republican Jen Kiggans was elected to the US House representing Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. The 7th State Senate District covers parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The local parties nominated their candidates in firehouse primaries. Democrats chose Virginia Beach City Councilmember, and former NFL player, Aaron Rouse. The Republicans chose Kevin Adams, a retired Navy Lt. Commander. This district is a Biden-Youngkin district that now Rep. Jen Kiggans won by less than 1% in her 2019 election to the seat. Democrats currently have a narrow 21-18 majority in the Virginia Senate with this vacancy. We will have the election results below once polls close at 7 p.m. EST.
Virginia House of Delegates
There are two races for vacant seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. In District 24, the vacancy was caused by the passing of Republican Delegate Ronnie Campbell after a battle with cancer. Republicans nominated the late Delegate’s widow, Ellen Campbell, in a firehouse primary. The Democrats nominated Jade Harris, who just finished her term as vice mayor on the Glasgow town council. The 24th District has gone solidly for Republicans during the entirety of the current district lines. The other race is in District 35, which is vacant after former Democratic Delegate Mark Keam took a job in the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Fairfax County seat has been held by Democrats since its current lines first went into effect. We will have the election results below once polls close at 7 p.m. EST.
Mississippi State House District 23
The seat in District 23 is vacant after Governor Tate Reeves appointed former Rep. Jim Beckett Executive Director for the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff. There are three candidates running for the vacancy in this northern Mississippi district. Since special elections in Mississippi are nonpartisan, no candidate is running under a party label. If no candidate achieves a 50%+1 majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters will move on to a January 31st runoff. We will have tonight’s election results below once polls close at 7 p.m. CST.