Another Republican State Legislative Retirement Could Cause A Flip In Virginia

I'm sure you remember all the excitement around the elections for the Virginia House of Delegates last year. The Republicans lost a whopping 15 seats and barely held onto the leadership-- and only because of a coin toss that went in their favor! The GOP entered those elections with 66 seats (out of 100) and had no idea what was headed their way. By the time the coin toss was over, they had 51 seats. Last month one of their delegates, Greg Habeeb-- from a red district in southwest Virginia (the 8th) that covers part of Roanoke, the City of Salem, Craig County and part of Montgomery County-- announced he's retiring at the end of this month.

Last year was the first time Habeeb had ever been challenged for reelection-- and he won handily, even in a very Democratic year. He beat Salem Democratic Party chairman Steve McBride 18,311 (64%) to 10,294 (36%). It would be nice to have a coin toss for that seat!

House Speaker Kirk Cox (R) took the advice of House Democratic Leader David Toscano and Democratic Caucus Chair Charniele Herring to set the special election to coincide with the Nov. 6 general election. Democrats thing that date would be the best if they're going to have any chance of winning a seat that's been in GOP hands since 1991. The two parties have to nominate their candidates by August 17.

The Roanoke Times reported that "the resignation and the date of the special election raise the possibility that House Republicans could be down one vote if they have to return to Richmond in the early fall for a potentially contentious redistricting process. Federal judges have given the House until Oct. 30 to correct racial gerrymandering the court found unconstitutional, a process expected to produce a new electoral map more favorable to Democrats. House Republicans are appealing the ruling and are trying to have the deadline pushed back."

That means "all" the House Democrats have to do is find one Republican who isn't a racist or who doesn't want to come off like a racist and they control 2 of the 3 components of the ungerrymandering apparatus (along with the governor).