With Mark Herring considered Virginia’s attorney general-elect, pending a recount, Democrats in Loudoun and Fairfax counties have announced they will hold a Firehouse Primary Saturday to choose the party’s nominee to fill the 33rd District Senate seat. Two candidates have filed to run for the nomination, Leesburg attorney Jennifer T. Wexton and Herndon Town Councilmember Sheila A. Olem. With all the votes reported from the local registrar’s offices throughout the state, Herring, a Loudoun Democrat, pulled ahead of Republican Mark Obenshain last week in the attorney general’s race by a narrow margin of 164 votes out of the more than 2.2 million cast.
The State Board of Election will not certify the total count until Nov. 25, and only then can the trailing candidate formally request a recount. There is no set deadline for a recount to be completed, according to a spokesman at the State Board of Elections.
But Evan Macbeth, chairman of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, said the party is ready to plan for a special election to determine Herring’s successor to represent the 33rd District in the Senate.
“We are ready to proceed because we have an attorney general-elect who’s going to do a fantastic job, and it seems perfectly logical and reasonable to proceed,” he said.
Full Article: Democrats To Pick Senate Nominee Saturday – Leesburg Today Online—Daily News Coverage of Loudoun County, Leesburg, Ashburn: Politics.