Virginia Delegate Joseph D. Morrissey, who was re-elected as an independent in a special election on January 13, 2015, wants to seek the Democratic nomination for State Senate, 16th district, this year. When Virginia parties choose to use primaries to nominate candidates, a petition is required to get on the primary ballot. Morrissey needed 250 valid signatures to run for State Senate in the June 2015 Democratic primary. He submitted 972 signatures.
However, the party checked his signatures and says only 222 are valid. He contests that and has filed a lawsuit in state court to show that he does have enough valid signatures. See this story.
It is quite an accomplishment that he even got that many signatures since he’s running from his jail cell.
Morrissey quit his delegate seat because he had to move into the Senate district to run for that office. He definitely is not an incumbent, nor a delegate.
In addition, he was not re-elected in January. He had resigned as part of a plea bargain. After his election in the special election, he served in the legislature under a day-release program.