Petition filed seeks to move up VA’s 38th District Senate special election from March to January
A resident of Southwest Virginia is claiming partisan politics in Gov. Ralph Northam’s decision to declare a special election for the vacant 38th District Senate seat which won’t take place until March.
A petition filed in Dickenson County Circuit Court this week by Andrew Rose of Clintwood, VA, is asking for the special election to be moved up to before the end of January, as the current scheduled election set for Mar. 23 would most likely keep the 38th District from being represented in the ongoing General Assembly session.
Rose cited two instances in the last year where Democratic delegates resigned for other positions and Northam scheduled special elections in a quick manner for those spots to be filled, but did not do the same for this Republican held seat, formerly occupied by Ben Chafin who died from COVID-19 on Jan. 1.
Rose further stated that this decision to set the election in March by Northam was done with “political motivation and bad faith.” Several candidates have already announced intentions to run for the open position.
Rose’s petition is available to read below:
