Nov. 3 election guide for dummies

Election day is tomorrow, and maybe politics aren’t really “your thing.” Maybe you’ve been so swamped with midterms you haven’t exactly kept up with local coverage, or maybe it’s your first time voting in the River City and you have no idea where you’re supposed to go.

Virginia State Senate – On Tuesday, Nov. 3, there are eight seats up for election in the state senate where Republicans currently hold a 21-19 majority. Three of the senate seats will be maintained by Democratic incumbents and three by Republican incumbents. The senators in the remaining two seats — one Democrat and one Republican — have decided not to run for re-election. Hence, there are three seats up for election in Richmond.

9th district
Donald McEachin (D) (incumbent)

10th district

Daniel Gecker (D)

Glen Sturtevant (R)

Carl Loser (L)

Marleen Durfee (I)

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that a national gun-control group is buying $700,000 of political advertisements for Democrat Dan Gecker to counter Republican Glen Sturtevant’s $56,000 raised by the National Rifle Association.

“For one group to put $700,000 into one-issue ads has to be unprecedented in state Senate races, particularly for a group from outside Virginia,” said Robert Holsworth, a longtime political commentator and former political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in a statement to the Times-Dispatch.

This buy, because it’s so overwhelming, could well define the campaign,” Holsworth said.

Andy Parker and his wife, Barbara, the parents of one of the news anchors fatally shot on air outside Smith Mountain Lake last month appeared with Gecker at a rally in Richmond sponsored by Everytown for Gun Safety and the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

The Parkers also attended a 10th District political forum at VCU last week sponsored by Virginia21, the VCU political science department and the Robertson School of Media and Culture.

16th district
Rosalyn R. Dance (D) (incumbent)
Joseph D. Morrissey (I)

Read more about how Morrissey gave the state slogan “Virginia is for lovers,” a whole new meaning in January when he was re-elected while in jail for sleeping with an underage receptionist at his law office.

Virginia House of Delegates – Richmond is divided into five districts in the House of Delegates, where elections are held for each seat every two years. Republicans currently have a 67-23 majority in the House.

68th district
Bill K. Grogan (D)
G.M. “Mandi” Loupassi (R) (incumbent)
Michael R Dickinson (I)

69th district
Betsy B. Carr (D) (incumbent)

70th district
Dolores L. McQuinn (D) (incumbent)

71st district
Jennifer L. McClellan (D) (incumbent)
Stephen J. Imholt (I)

74th district
Lamont Bagby (D) (incumbent)
David M. Lambert (I)

Polling locations near VCU – To find your polling place based on current residence, click here. If you aren’t registered to vote, take care of it now so you’re a step ahead for the next election.

• Dominion Place Apartments
  1037 West Grace St.
• George Washington Carver Elementary School
  1110 West Leigh St.
• Calhoun Center
  436 Calhoun St.
• Main Street Station
  1500 East Main St.
• Randolph Community Center
  1415 Grayland Center
• Maymount Elementary School
  1211 S. Allen Ave.
• Tabernacle Baptist Church
  1925 Grove Ave.

Fadel Allassan, Staff Writer

Fadel is a sophomore print journalism major. He is fluent in English and French and enjoys writing about politics. // Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

allassanfg@commonwealthtimes.org