Republicans to canvass for 4th District seat Saturday in Colonial Heights
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The 4th District Congressional District Republican Committee will hold a party canvass Saturday, Dec. 17, at Life Christian Academy in Colonial Heights to select its nominee for the Feb. 21 special election for the seat, which is vacant following last month's sudden death of Representative Donald McEachin.
Voting will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and those who participate will be asked to rank all candidates on the ballot in order of their preference. As of Wednesday, the only two registered candidates were Richmond pastor Leon Benjamin (the Republican nominee for the seat in the past two general elections, which he lost handily to McEachin) and Dale Sturdifen (the former chair of the Mecklenburg County School Board).
In a statement, party officials said they had selected the ranked-choice canvass format because it is a “fair, easy, and secure election process that allows the maximum number of voters to engage.”
They selected a Saturday date in order to permit the maximum number of interested voters to attend, they said.
The Democratic Party came under fire from some in that party after selecting to hold its firehouse primary at five locations within the district and on a weekday (Tuesday, Dec. 20) instead of a weekend. (The party on Tuesday added three more locations – in North Chesterfield, Surry, and Charles City – to that list.)
In their statement, Republican Party leaders took several shots at the Democrats' plan, too, calling it “an indisputable form of voter suppression; “exclusionary;” and saying that it “constitutes voter manipulation by Democrats to ensure that the least number of people possible participate in their nomination process, thereby tipping the nomination to the more extreme candidate pre-selected by Democrat Party bosses.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine publicly endorsed Democratic candidate Jennifer McClellan, one of four people seeking the party's nomination.
“I have been a mentor to Jenn since before she ran for her first political office," Kaine said. "She has represented me as a Delegate and State Senator and done so with passion and distinction. I officiated at her wedding to Dave and have watched her balance the roles of legislator, lawyer, wife, and mother with grace. Jenn is a proud Democrat who will work to find common cause with any colleague. Her intellect and team-building skills make her a consummate legislator, able to forge coalitions to accomplish policy wins that serve her constituents and Commonwealth. Jenn is a woman of admirable civility with a backbone of steel on matters of principle. She is a warm and accessible person who draws others to her because of a sensitive ear and a compassionate heart. McClellan (who represents Virginia's Ninth District in the state senate) is facing 74th District House of Delegates member Lamont Bagby, 16th District State Senator Joe Morrissey and former Democratic Delegate Joseph Preston in the Dec. 20 primary, which includes as a polling site the IBEW Local 666 location at 1390 East Nine Mile Road in Highland Springs. Voters can cast ballots that day between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. "I am excited by the notion that Jenn would be the first African-American woman representing Virginia in Congress," Kaine said. "I have seen over my nearly 30 years in politics that old attitudes and double standards still make it harder for women to succeed in this line of work. That’s why, in a nation where more than half of all voters are women, only 27% of the membership of Congress are women. We can advance progress for Virginia and the nation by electing Jenn."
