RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — One of two special elections was announced Monday to replace Virginia state senators who were recently elected to the U.S.
House, and candidates are already lining up to take over the seats. State Sens. John McGuire and Suhas Subramanyam landed the congressional wins on Election Day.
That means there are vacant spots for their Statehouse positions. McGuire, a Republican, represented a rural district in central Virginia. Subramanyam, a Democrat, represented a Washington-area exurb.
According to Virginia law, House and Senate leaders are tasked with calling such elections when the legislature is in a special session. The special session has been active since last May. The law also requires a special election to be set “within 30 days of the vacancy or receipt of notification of the vacancy, whichever comes first.
” On Monday, Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas said the election to replace Subramanyam will happen Jan. 7.
Lucas has not yet called an election to replace McGuire's seat. Senate Democrats have a narrow 21-19 majority, making the special elections key to the party's efforts to preserve a majority in both chambers. Democrats in Loudoun County, home to Subramanyam’s district, said in a press release last Wednesday that local party members would vote for their candidate on Nov.
16. State Del. Kannan Srinivasan, who was elected last year to represent the district in the House of Delegates, and former Del.
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