Virginia Democrats maintain control of Statehouse in special election

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Democrats retained their Senate majority Tuesday after voters in the northern and central parts of the state backed two Democrats to fill a state Senate vacancy and a vacant House seat delegates.

In northern Loudoun County, Democratic Rep. Kannan Srinivasan defeated Republican Tumay Harding in the race to succeed Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November.

In a district overlapping the House of Delegates, Democrat JJ Singh defeated Republican Ram Venkatachalam in an election to replace Srinivasan, who vacated his seat in the House of Delegates after becoming a candidate in the Senate special election.

In central Goochland County, Republican Luther Cifers is vying with Democrat Jack Trammell in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. John McGuire. McGuire won Virginia’s 5th Congressional District after narrowly beating former U.S. Rep. Bob Good by less than a percentage point in a bitter primary, which led to a recount last August.

Tuesday’s election was the first official election in Virginia since the November presidential election, which left many Democrats struggling with the party’s defeats in federal elections. State Senate Democrats had a narrow 20-18 majority, making the special election critical to the party’s efforts to preserve a majority in both chambers during Republican Gov. Glenn’s final year in office Youngkin. In the House of Delegates, Democrats had a 50-49 lead after Srinivasan left office.

Srinivasan, the first Native American immigrant elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and Singh, a Virginia native and son of Indian immigrants, hoped to hold Democratic seats in a county where data shows Vice President Kamala Harris received 57 % of votes. in his failed bid against President-elect Donald Trump. Singh and Srinivasan had largely focused their campaigns on abortion rights in Virginia. This comes at a time when state Democrats are working to enshrine a constitutional right to abortion in the state.

Harding, the daughter of Turkish Uzbek immigrants, and Venkatachalam, an Indian-American immigrant, were vying for Senate and House seats from Democrats. The two candidates, all of whom ran unsuccessfully for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in 2023, have centered their national campaigns on partisan lines, such as parents’ rights, crime and the economy.