• Virginia: Every nominee for the Senate and House in Virginia this year will be chosen when the state conducts its regularly scheduled primaries on June 18, according to a report published this week by the state's Department of Elections. Elections for local offices throughout the state, such as mayor and city council, will also operate according to the same rules.
Virginia political parties have the option of picking their candidates using a traditional primary run by the state; a so-called "firehouse primary" run by the parties themselves; or a convention. Democrats have rarely availed themselves of the latter two options, but Republicans have regularly chosen to hold conventions, which are often dominated by hardcore activists.
When the GOP has picked the convention route, it's often caused serious headaches for the Republican Party's electoral hopes—and even sometimes for the delegates themselves.
Perhaps the most infamous of these gatherings took place in 2013 when minister E.W. Jackson competed to become the party's nominee for lieutenant governor. Jackson, who had taken a mere 5% of the vote in the prior year's primary for U.S. Senate, thrilled the largely white crowd in a speech proclaiming, "I am not an African American, I am an American," and delegates responded by nominating him.
Jackson, though, did not play as well with general election voters. The Republican spent the next several months explaining and defending his long history of statements both offensive and bizarre, including his suggestion that yoga leads to Satan. Democrat Ralph Northam ended up blowing past Jackson in a 55-45 rout even as Republicans fared much better further down the ticket that year.
GOP convention-goers haven't picked anyone as electorally toxic since then―now-Gov. Glenn Youngkin even secured his own nomination at a convention in 2021, for instance. But other gatherings have produced their share of drama.
In 2020, freshman Rep. Denver Riggleman faced a tough renomination battle from the right in the form of Campbell County Supervisor Bob Good, who among other things took the incumbent to task for officiating a same-sex wedding. The 5th District convention, which to Riggleman's frustration took place in the parking lot of Good's church, ended with a 58-42 victory for the challenger.
When the GOP held another convention the following month in the 7th District to choose between two members of the House of Delegates seeking to take on Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, it turned into a miserable affair for essentially everyone. The event, which took place during the height of the COVID pandemic, saw many delegates run back to their air-conditioned cars in 97 degree heat between the three rounds of voting. "Burned a quarter tank of gas sitting right here," one attendee told the Washington Post.
Only about half of the projected number of participants even showed up, and those who did ended up opting for Nick Freitas over fellow Del. John McGuire. Spanberger ultimately narrowly fended off Freitas in the general election, though she's retiring from Congress this cycle to prepare her 2025 run for governor. McGuire, who is now a member of the state Senate, is waging a primary campaign against Good, who last year made the mistake of endorsing Ron DeSantis over Donald Trump.
Good, who attracted national news last month when he was ejected from a political event at a "Trump store", has suspected for some time that his fate would rest in the hands of primary voters. "I think Virginia is moving to all primaries," he told Politico last year. He was right, at least for 2024: Both parties will exclusively rely on primaries for each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts as well as in the state's Senate race, in which Democrat Tim Kaine hopes to earn a third term.
Candidates have until April 4 to file for the primary ballot. To stay on top of all these dates, you can bookmark our complete calendar of primary dates and major-party filing deadlines.
• PA-10: Former local TV anchor Janelle Stelson has released an internal from Normington Petts that shows her leading 2020 nominee Shamaine Daniels 36-16 in the April 23 Democratic primary to face far-right Rep. Scott Perry. Marine veteran Mike O'Brien, who was the only Democrat other than Stelson to end 2023 with a six-figure campaign account, is in third with 9%, while 31% are undecided.
• SC-03: Kevin Bishop, who retired in January as communications director for Sen. Lindsey Graham, announced Thursday that he was joining the June Republican primary for this safely red seat. Bishop, who first began working for Graham in 1997 when his boss represented a previous version of the 3rd District, joins Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs and state Rep. Stewart Jones in the contest to succeed retiring Rep. Jeff Duncan.