Former state Del. Joe Morrissey surprised some when he defeated incumbent state Sen. Rosalyn Dance during the June 11 primary.
Morrissey soundly defeated Dance on her home turf of Petersburg, 72 to 28 percent. He also won Hopewell and Dinwiddie County by 14 and 15 percentage points, respectively.
Dance won Richmond, Chesterfield County and Prince George by 7, 2 and 1 points, respectively.
However, Morrissey racked up 3,354 votes in Petersburg to 1,520 for Dance, a difference of 1,834 votes. An equal number of people (4,674) voted in Richmond and Petersburg, but Dance only won Richmond by 364 votes. Chesterfield had 4,253 votes, but Dance only won it by 131. Hopewell and portions of Dinwiddie and Prince George counties had much fewer vote totals. Not counting Petersburg, Dance got 6,119 votes to 5,935 for Morrissey, or 50.7 percent to 49.2 percent.
No Republican filed for the race, but Petersburg voter registrar Dawn Williams said that Petersburg resident Waylin K. Ross filed June 11 as an independent.
Carroll wins Matoaca
Retired Chesterfield Police officer Kevin Carroll won the Matoaca Board of Supervisors race by 63 votes over planning commissioner Craig Stariha, 40 to 38.3 percent. Chesterfield School Board member Rob Thompson finished a distant third with 21.6 percent. Barring a recount, Carroll will face Democrat Shajaun Mason in November.
Dougherty defeats Marks
Lindsey Dougherty won the Democratic nomination for State House District 62 over Tavorise Marks by 83 votes, 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent. Barring a recount, Dougherty, a budget analyst for Chesterfield County, will face Republican Carrie Coyner in a contest to replace longtime state Rep. Riley Ingram in November.
Pohl over Powell
Democrat Amanda Pohl easily outdistanced E. Wayne Powell, 78 to 22 percent, for their party’s nomination in state Senate District 10. Pohl will take on incumbent Republican Amanda Chase in November.
Independents
Chesterfield voter registrar Constance Tyler noted that Linnard K. Harris qualified to run in state House District 66 against incumbent Republican Kirk Cox and Democrat Sheila Bynum-Coleman. Harris had originally planned to run against Democrat incumbent Dolores McQuinn in state House District 70, but was redistricted when a federal court adjusted a number of House districts. McQuinn has no opponent in November.
Independent Larry Haake qualified to run against Democrat incumbent Lashrecse Aird in state House District 63. No Republican filed, although Haake, a former Chesterfield voter registrar, was subsequently endorsed by the Grand Old Party in the heavily Democratic district.
Other election news
Tyler noted that Republican John Hilliard, who had filed to run as Matoaca District’s school board member, withdrew on May 17. That left Republican Ryan Harter, who got his party’s endorsement, and Democrat Denisha Potts in the race.
