Virginians went to the polls yesterday to cast their ballot in a number of high stakes primary battles to determine Republican and Democratic candidates for the General Election on November 7, 2023.
A whopping four incumbent Senators – George Barker, Amanda Chase, Joe Morrissey, and Chap Petersen – lost to primary challengers, while Senator Lionell Spruill, Sr. lost to fellow incumbent Senator Louise Lucas in one of the most closely watched contests this primary season. Another incumbent, Senator Jeremy McPike, is locked in a too-close-to-call race with challenger Delegate Elizabeth Guzman – while all precincts have reported results, late-arriving mail-in absentee and provisional ballots must still be counted and localities must conduct a canvass before a winner can be certified. Notably, Senators Dave Marsden and Creigh Deeds survived primaries against well-funded, more liberal opponents, making the night a mixed bag for male Democratic Senators, nearly all of whom faced some sort of challenge this June.
While not a major shock that notoriously polarizing Senators Chase and Morrissey – both of whom had virtually no institutional support – were ousted, the biggest upset of the night was Senator Petersen’s loss to Saddam Azlan Salim. Senator Petersen, who had served in the General Assembly since 2002, made a name for himself as Democrat willing to publicly buck his party despite representing a deep blue district. This is the first time that Salim, a first-generation immigrant born in Bangladesh, ran for public office.
Only one incumbent, Delegate Marie March, lost in the House. The Republican, who often challenged her own party’s leadership faced fellow Delegate Wren Williams, who vastly outraised her and had institutional support from within the GOP. All other Delegates facing primary challenges – one Republican and two Democrats – held on to secure their respective party’s nomination.
The night marked a political victory for Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin – all of the ten GOP candidates that he endorsed in contested races prevailed, including Emily Brewer and Tara Durant, two Delegates seeking the Republican nomination in open Senate seats. The Governor’s next challenge comes in November, when he will seek to attain unified control of the General Assembly – thus far, his legislative agenda has largely been thwarted by the so-called “brick wall” of Senate Democrats.
Below are results from yesterday’s primaries. Italics denotes winners, and asterisks indicate incumbents. Both the Republican and Democratic primaries in the Senate’s 29th District remain too close to call as of Wednesday morning.
House Primary Results
HD 7 – Democratic Primary (Western Fairfax)
Karen Keys-Gamarra
Paul Berry
Shyamali Hauth
Mary Barthelson
HD 15 – Democratic Primary (Fairfax County)
Laura Jane Cohen
Eric Schmidt
Henri’ Thompson
HD 19 – Democratic Primary (Fairfax/Prince William County)
Rozia Henson
Makya Little
Natalie Shorter
HD 21 – Republican Primary (Prince William County)
John Stirrup
Josh Quill
HD 26 – Democratic Primary (Loudoun County)
Kannan Srinivasan
Sirisha Kompalli
HD 39 – Republican Primary (Roanoke/Franklin County)
Will Davis
Ron Jefferson
HD 47 – Republican Primary (Carroll/Patrick/Floyd/Henry)
Wren Williams*
Marie March*
HD 54 – Democratic Primary (Charlottesville)
Katrina Callsen
Dave Norris
Bellamy Brown
HD 55 – Democratic Primary (Albemarle/Louisa/Fluvanna)
Amy Laufer
Kellen Squire
HD 57 – Democratic Primary (Western Henrico)
Susanna Gibson
Bob Shippee
HD 59 – Republican Primary (Hanover/Henrico/Louisa)
Buddy Fowler*
Graven Craig
Philip Strother
HD 65 – Republican Primary (Fredericksburg Area)
Lee Peters
Michael Kasey
HD 73 – Republican Primary (Western Chesterfield)
Mark Earley, Jr.
Ryan Harter
Yan Gleyzer
HD 79 – Democratic Primary (Richmond)
Rae Cousins
Ann Francis Lambert
Richard Walker
HD 80 – Democratic Primary (Henrico County)
Destiny LeVere Bolling
John Dantzler
HD 81 – Democratic Primary (Eastern Henrico)
Delores McQuinn*
Terrence Lavell Walker
HD 82 – Democratic Primary (Petersburg/Dinwiddie)
Kimberly Pope Adams
Victor McKenzie
HD 84 – Democratic Primary (Suffolk/Isle of Wight)
Nadarius Clark
Michele Joyce
HD 84 – Republican Primary (Suffolk/Isle of Wight)
Michael Dillender
Rod Thompson
HD 92 – Democratic Primary (Norfolk/Chesapeake)
Bonita Anthony
Kim Sudderth
HD 94 – Republican Primary (Norfolk)
Andy Pittman
Amy Chudzinski
Ken O’Brien
HD 95 – Democratic Primary (Virginia Beach/Norfolk)
Alex Askew
Rick James
HD 96 – Democratic Primary (Virginia Beach)
Kelly Convirs-Fowler*
Brandon Hutchins
Susan Hippen
Sean Monteiro
Senate Primary Results
SD 1 – Republican Primary (Winchester/Valley)
Timmy French
Dave LaRock
Brandon Monk
James Bergida
John Massoud
Lance Allen
Brad Pollack
Blaine Dunn
SD 4 – Democratic Primary (Roanoke Valley)
Trish White-Boyd
Luke Priddy
DA Pierce
SD 11 – Democratic Primary (Charlottesville/Nelson/Amherst)
Creigh Deeds*
Sally Hudson
SD 12 – Republican Primary (Chesterfield/Colonial Heights)
Glen Sturtevant
Amanda Chase*
Tina Ramirez
SD 13 – Democratic Primary (Henrico/Petersburg/Hopewell)
Lashrecse Aird
Joe Morrissey*
SD 14 – Democratic Primary (Richmond/Henrico)
Lamont Bagby*
Katie Gooch
SD 17 – Republican Primary (Hampton Roads/Southside)
Emily Brewer
Hermie Sadler
SD 18 – Democratic Primary (Chesapeake/Portsmouth)
Louise Lucas*
Lionell Spruill, Sr.*
SD 19 – Republican Primary (Chesapeake/Virginia Beach)
Christie New Craig
Tim Anderson
Jeff Bruzzesi
SD 21 – Democratic Primary (Norfolk)
Angelia Williams Graves
Andria McClellan
SD 27 – Democratic Primary (Fredericksburg Area)
Joel Griffin
Ben Litchfield
SD 27 – Republican Primary (Fredericksburg Area)
Tara Durant
Matt Strickland
SD 29 – Democratic Primary (Prince William/Stafford): TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Jeremy McPike*
Elizabeth Guzman
SD 29 – Republican Primary (Prince William/Stafford): TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Maria Martin
Nikki Rattray Baldwin
SD 30 – Republican Primary (Prince William/Manassas)
Bill Woolf
Robert Ruffolo
SD 31 – Democratic Primary (Loudoun/Fauquier)
Russet Perry
Zach Cummings
SD 32 – Democratic Primary (Loudoun County)
Suhas Subramanyam
Ibraheem Samirah
SD 33 – Democratic Primary (Prince William/Fairfax)
Jennifer Carroll Foy
Hala Ayala
SD 35 – Democratic Primary (Springfield/Annandale)
Dave Marsden*
Heidi Drauschak
SD 36 – Democratic Primary (Fairfax County)
Stella Pekarsky
George Barker*
SD 37 – Democratic Primary (Fairfax County/Falls Church)
Saddam Azlan Salim
Chap Petersen*
SD 40 – Democratic Primary (Arlington County)
Barbara Favola*
James DeVita
