On January 13, Virginia held a special election to fill the vacant State House seat, district 74. The independent candidate won the election with 42.3% of the vote. Here is a link to the State Board of Elections’ web page, showing the election returns. The winner, Joseph D. Morrissey, had been elected in 2013 as a Democrat, but he had resigned late last year. The Democratic Party was not interested in renominating him, so he ran as an independent. The Democratic nominee placed second; the Republican nominee placed third.
UPDATE: this story explains why Morrissey resigned and also says some legislators will try to expel him from the legislature.
He will be able to attend meetings of the legislature during the 12 hours per day he can get out of jail on a work release. He may be expelled by the legislature.
I certainly hope he gets expelled. What a disgrace!
Does anyone know if straight-party ballot voting was used for this election in Virginia?
If he does get expelled he’s free to run again.
It’s time that people start working together to improve election conditions for all candidates and voters.
The 9th USA Parliament has been promoting multi-winner elections for team psychology and pure proportional representation (PR) for twenty consecutive years and our ability to comment and our posts have been deleted from many facebook pages and other blogs by people over the years because of our speech about unity and teamwork across partisan lines.
Now we’re starting a new election cycle and we need to use the best method for thinking and acting like a team.
Please contact us should you see the need to work as a team and we’ll plug your name into any key posts on the virtual USA or International Parliaments where you have the inclination to try a new way.
Sign up on the main sign up page and be sure to make sure your name is represented by the new United Coalition:
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Virginia has never had a straight-ticket device. Virginia has always used office-group ballots and has never used party column ballots. Virginia didn’t even print party labels on the ballot (except for President) during most of the 20th century.
…his conviction in the scandal involving his 17-year-old secretary…The young woman, who denies they had sex, is now pregnant…”The only person that has shown any respect or kindness, or been there for me, is Mr. Morrissey,” Myrna Pride told a WTVR reporter on Monday…
Myrna Pride – Hester Prynne…hmmmmm.
Fightin Joe Morrissey is an elected member of the Independent Green Party of Virginia central committee, and the first sitting member of the Independent Green Party state leadership elected to the House of Delegates.
Other Independent Green Party endorsed Independents have been elected to the House of Delegates, but never an Independent Green Party member of state leadership.
Here is Fightin Joe Morrissey on Green Party Green TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INYUvn1rFPE
Jeff Becker is right.
Fightin Joe Morrisey (IG) Independent Green Party has shown enormous courage. He resigned his seat. Left his former party. The Independent Green Party got in Fightin’ Joe’s corner, endorsed, nominated Fightin’ Joe(IG), and elected him the the Independent Green Party central committee. Fightin’ Joe (IG) then let the voters decide if he should be returned to office.
Tom Yager you are entitled to your opinions, however uninformed.
The only disgrace here would be if the legislature decided to ignore the will of the voters who elected the Independent Green Party’s Fightin’ Joe Morrissey (IG) to the state legislature.
Mr. Yager, could it just be sour grapes that it was the Independent Green Party of Virginia that elected their central committee member to the state legislature, and not your smaller little group of Greens in Virginia?
The Independent Green Party is inclusive, diverse, empowering, optimistic, positive – always endorsing your one of two candidates a year. Meanwhile the Independent Green Party put more women candidates on the ballot for U.S. House in Virginia in 2014 than the two large parties.
That’s a great victory for Greens everywhere…except for…well maybe you Yager.
Oh, where to start!
1. It’s Fightin Joe Morrisey (I), not Fightin Joe Morrisey (IG). He ran as an independent. I just love that weasel phrase you guys always use: “Endorse/nominate”.
2. What’s just as disgraceful as Morrissey winning re-election is that you’re actually shilling for him. The Democratic Party to its credit wants nothing to do with Morrissey, just as the Republican Party is no longer supporting Bob McDonnell. And I thought that Tareq Salahi was a new low for the Independent Greens!
3. It’s not sour grapes, it’s embarrassment that we a state legislator who won re-election from jail. If Morrissey had stayed out of trouble or had the decency to step down, you wouldn’t be claiming this “victory”.
4. Trying to cling to power when you should step aside is a rather novel definition of courage.
5. The legislature has standards of behavior that it needs to uphold. Lawmakers should not be lawbreakers, so no, let’s not just have a good laugh over a 57-year-old man who was convicted of having sex with a 17-year-old girl winning re-election.
6. Sure, you endorse our candidates all the time…even when they don’t want it, like Josh Ruebner in 2009.