Submitted by Soloemilia t3_zkyzj3 in rva

There will be a firehouse primary on Tuesday 12/20/22 all day to chose the Democratic candidate to run for congressional district 4 to replace the late Donald McEachin.

FACTS:

Location TBD

Firehouse primary is a candidate nominated contact, funded and overseen by local party organization rather than public election officials. This is happening due to the tight timeframe of the election.

Who can vote? Anyone who lives in the district and signs a pledge to support the Dem nominee can vote in the firehouse primary.

That’s all I know right now. I’ll update as I know more

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Comments

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j02bdxf wrote

In case this isn't clear to people, this is basically the actual congressional election. Whoever wins this is guaranteed to beat the republican. So if you want to vote, this is when and how you vote.

It's the sort of thing that favors party insiders, so I'm really baffled Stoney isn't running.

I think it's currently Joe Morrissey, Lamont Bagby, and Jennifer McClellan running

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raindeerpie t1_j02etto wrote

that's why it's important to vote on actual election day. there are no guaranteed winners.

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j02f1m1 wrote

guarantee? No. Would I put $1,000 on the democrat winning this district? yes. Talk about great odds

Real election is the primary here.

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sleevieb t1_j02igcs wrote

Terrified of morrisey bringing the skeletons out of his closet

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Soloemilia OP t1_j02wtb8 wrote

UPDATED TO ADD LOCATIONS:

The 4th Congressional District Committee will hold an unassembled caucus on Tuesday, December 20, 6am to 7pm at the following locations: ● Brunswick Conference Center - 100 Athletic Field Rd, Lawrenceville, Virginia 23868 ● Dogtown Dance Studio - 109 W 15th St, Richmond, VA 23224 ● Diversity Richmond - 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond, VA 23220 ● IBEW Local 666 - 1390 E Nine Mile Rd, Highland Springs VA 23075 ● Tabernacle Baptist Church - 444 Halifax St, Petersburg, VA 23803

Any registered voter in the 4th Congressional District who meets the participation requirements outlined in the call to caucus will be eligible to vote at any of the caucus voting locations.

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SpartiedOn t1_j03iejt wrote

What a weird collection of places. I am honestly baffled at the choices and how few there are. I imagine that it might be on purpose

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bmore_in_rva t1_j0468y3 wrote

Firehouse primary on short notice is a less-than-ideal situation. At a glance, it looks like the committee managed to find a location in far southside (Lawrenceville), one in petersburg, one in south richmond (with good bus access), one in north richmond, and one in eastern henrico (just off I-64). Polling locations in every neighborhood are obviously preferable, but given that wasn't an option (for off-schedule primaries, party committees have to arrange their own logistics), their locations seem fairly reasonable to me considering that the most of the population of the district lives fairly centrally and that city residents are less likely to have a car and be able to drive to a distant location. They could have just picked one location and made everyone go there, but they didn't.

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OnARedditDiet t1_j04sap5 wrote

I don't know if the governor meant to cause disarray but there was almost no notice at all. They have like 3 weeks to basically decide who will be the representative for 2 years.

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Soloemilia OP t1_j0552ry wrote

I think the disorder and disarray was intentional.

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systematical t1_j056oie wrote

It's complete ass. I guess the Dance Studio is the closest place if you're in Church Hill (by a hair).

Democrats suddenly not all about polling places and all that stuff they claim to be for.

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OnARedditDiet t1_j06ufgh wrote

Give me a break, the governor set the deadline not Democrats, it could have been a caucus and even more restrictive but they're doing their best for 2 week notice on the week of Christmas

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McFlare92 t1_j0328c4 wrote

Topic for discussion: are we concerned about McClellan having to give up her state senate seat and Republicans using the vacancy to jam abortion restrictions through while we're down a senator? This also depends on the election taking place in Virginia Beach where a republican vacated the seat to take Elaine lurias old congressional seat. I'm leaning Bagby because of my fear here

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lemon_difficult90 t1_j034dsw wrote

I’ve thought about this too because she’s absolutely my first choice, but I can’t imagine she hasn’t considered this. She’s one of the biggest repro rights stalwarts we have in the GA, if not the biggest, and I just don’t think she’d risk being the reason why a ban gets passed. It’s a fair question, though, and one I imagine her office will be getting from a bunch of people. I’m interested to hear what she says.

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McFlare92 t1_j034kw0 wrote

I agree with you. She is an awesome representative and my first choice, but part of me feels safer voting Bagby since he's not in the senate. Tough call and I really hope she comments on this soon, or I may just call her office and ask

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ZachPruckowski t1_j03m73c wrote

Right now, we're 21-18 in the State Senate. If Republicans win in the vacant VB seat (hardly a sure thing), that would be 21-19. If McClellan wins and vacates her state legislative seat, that would make it 20-19, so still a Dem majority in the State Senate.

Not to mention that McClellan would only be vacating her seat on on like February 22nd, which is only a few days before the State Senate session ends. So there would only be a brief 20-19 period of a few days.

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Soloemilia OP t1_j0331r1 wrote

I see when she won her state seat. She won with 80% of the vote.

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McFlare92 t1_j0336uh wrote

It's literally the bluest district in the state senate so that's not my concern. My concern is any votes that would take place while her seat is vacant. We do not have a large enough majority to be down a D in the state senate

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Soloemilia OP t1_j033czf wrote

Okay I’m with you now.

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McFlare92 t1_j033giw wrote

Cool. Yeah that's the worry though. I guess I could call her office and ask. She is very nice in my experience

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Soloemilia OP t1_j033j4g wrote

Super nice, my kids have gone to school with her kids for years

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robsterva t1_j03i6ia wrote

Morrissey says he can keep his Senate seat and be in Congress at the same time.

He's clearly an unreliable source, but if he's right, then I would assume McClellan can resign her Senate seat at a more favorable time (say, after the 2023 GA session).

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bmore_in_rva t1_j046nv0 wrote

Yeah, I dunno about keeping the state seat while serving in congress, but I think McClellan could probably stay in the state senate until she's sworn into congress. There's only a few days between the special general election date and the scheduled end of session, although of course session can be dragged out.

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archetype1 t1_j035q4o wrote

All in for Jennifer.

Lamont's top donor is Dominion Energy.

Morrissey is Morrissey.

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raindeerpie t1_j02fkfr wrote

is that pledge enforceable? if so how is that legal? it's probably harmless since most everyone going would be voting democratic anyway. but i don't think you can legally force someone to vote for your candidate in the general election. i do know primaries can limit who votes.

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Soloemilia OP t1_j02fwwe wrote

It is in no way, shape, or form enforceable

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raindeerpie t1_j02j4ey wrote

that's good. i was 98% sure that was the case but you never know these days.

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fr0bert t1_j02goci wrote

Interesting, does that mean I, a permanent resident but not yet a citizen can vote in this??

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j02hwtm wrote

hmm. maybe? I'd absolutely ask before doing so though. And would err on the side of caution

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raindeerpie t1_j02jhdy wrote

it is a primary, so maybe it has different rules? i've been told some very biased and unverified facts about non citizens being allowed to vote with just a drivers license in states like California. I'm not sure how true they are and if that would apply in VA.

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The8thHammer t1_j03mhxp wrote

NGL i thought subs were gonna be involved

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m0arpepper t1_j054zn7 wrote

Wish Parker Ageslasto would run. Was a big fan when he was my council person and my brief interactions with him.

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DarDarRules t1_j06tk6t wrote

Despite a possibly vacated state senate seat during Session, I would much rather have Jen in Congress than Lamont.

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