GA races begin to take shape

At least nine new candidates are seeking to represent portions of Henrico County in the General Assembly next year.

Three Democratic challengers – including Delegate Debra Rodman – will seek their party's nomination for the 12th District seat in the Virginia Senate (currently held by Republican Siobhan Dunnavant), while Republican challengers have emerged in three of the six Henrico House of Delegates districts that currently are controlled by Democrats.

One of the two other House districts that include a portion of Henrico – the 62nd – will have a new representative next year, following longtime Republican Delegate Riley Ingram's announcement last month that he is retiring.

Virginia House
No challengers yet have presented themselves in three Henrico districts:

• the 56th, which includes a portion of Henrico's Far West End; Republican John McGuire won the seat (which fellow Republican Peter Farrell had vacated) by defeating Democrat Melissa Dart two years ago.

• the 71st, currently held by Richmond Democrat Jeff Bourne;

• the 74th, held by Henrico Democrat Lamont Bagby.

Elsewhere, Republican Carrie Coyner, a two-term member of the Chesterfield County School Board, is seeking the 62nd District seat that Ingram is vacating; she's the only candidate who has officially announced for it to date, and Ingram has endorsed her candidacy. A June 11 primary will be held if another Republican candidate emerges.

Coyner, an attorney and founder of the Rudy Coyner law firm, has served on a number of government, PTA and volunteer committees in Chesterfield. She is a University of Virginia graduate and University of Richmond law school graduate.

In the 68th District, which includes a sliver of Henrico County's Near West End, Democrat Dawn Adams will face competition in November from a Republican challenger.

Garrison Coward was the first Republican to announce his plans to run. He's a Henrico native and Tucker High School graduate who serves as the chief operating office of BizCents (a data analytics firm) and who was the campaign manager for U.S. Congressman Rob Wittman (1st District) for three years.

He's campaigning to improve healthcare options for Virginia, including for recovery programs; to remove "unnecessary" taxes on state businesses to help spur economic growth; to improve infrastructure in the district to make the region safer; and to allow students to explore career fields in middle school to help them begin planning their futures earlier.

Earlier this week, Lori Losi (a licensed CPA and former business owner in the region) announced her intentions to seek the nomination as well. She is making her pro-business platform the focus of her campaign. She is pledging to work for low taxes and the implementation of policies that will spark job growth.

In the 70th District, a longtime Democratic stronghold that includes some of Eastern Henrico, incumbent Democrat Delores McQuinn of Richmond will be challenged in November by Linnard Keith Harris, Sr., who plans to run as an independent. Harris is a military veteran, a substitute teacher and former police officer who has vowed to work for tax and education reform, healthcare improvements and better resources for the homeless. Harris once was homeless himself and hasn't shied away from that reality in his campaign literature.

In the 72nd District, held by first-term Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg, Republican GayDonna Vandergriff of Henrico has announced that she'll seek her party's nomination.

Vandergriff previously unsuccessfully sought the Brookland District seat on the Henrico School Board but has not sought office at the state level. She is a longtime volunteer in Henrico.

In the 73rd District, political newcomer Rodney Willett announced this week that he will seek the Democratic nomination, after current seatholder Rodman announced that she'll compete for the party's nomination in the 12th Senate District instead.

Republican Mary Margaret Kastelberg, a lifelong Henrico resident who has spent her professional career working in finance, is seeking the Republican nomination for the seat. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Virginia's School of Business.

Virginia Senate
Democrat Jennifer McClellan, widely viewed as a candidate for one of the state's top three offices in 2022 and mentioned as a possible replacement , has no known opponents yet for her 9th District Senate seat, which includes a wide swath of Eastern Henrico.

Dunnavant, who represents the 12th District and Henrico's western half, will face a Democratic challenger in November – whether that's Rodman, attorney Veena Gupta Lothe or Marques Jones. The latter two have been campaigning for the party's nomination for months.

Lothe is an immigration and civil rights attorney and first-generation Indian-American who has vowed to seek campaign finance reform measures and make voting and voter registration easier; support a living wage; create tax incentives for renewable energy efforts; enact gun-safety laws; support teacher pay increases; and protect LGBTQ youngsters, among other efforts.

Jones is the former chairman of the Henrico County Democratic Party, on which Lothe also serves as a magisterial district representative. He is the president of ComForCare Home Care, a company he founded to help improve living conditions for the elderly, and has made healthcare access a primary component of his campaign.

Rodman's decision to join the race had been rumored in recent weeks. She won a surprising victory for the 73rd District seat in Virginia's House of Delegates two years ago, unseating longtime Republican Delegate John O'Bannon.

Rodman, an associate professor at Randolph-Macon College, earned the endorsement of the Legislative Black Caucus House delegation from Henrico, as well as from Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson and Henrico Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg in her quest for the Senate seat nomination.

“My life’s work has been about making the American Dream accessible: for our students, for our children, and for some of the most vulnerable communities in the world," Rodman said in a statement. "My district knows how hard I fight for them – on the campaign trail and at the General Assembly. When there is an opportunity to do more good for more people, I’m going to take it.

"I worked hard to win my primary in 2017, and that prepared me to defeat a well-funded, entrenched incumbent. I have proven to the 73rd district that I am a relentless campaigner and a relentless fighter for their values in the General Assembly. I look forward to proving that to the 12th Senate district."