A quickly assembled special election is scheduled to be held Tuesday to fill the Virginia House of Delegates seat vacated by Brian Moran, with Democratic candidate Charniele Herring squaring off with Republican Joe R. Murray.
Moran said Dec. 12 that he would leave his 46th District seat to campaign full time for governor. With the General Assembly session starting Wednesday, Gov. Tim Kaine set the special election date for Tuesday and gave potential candidates until Dec. 17 to file.
The 46th District covers 11 precincts in western Alexandria and the Skyline district in Fairfax County.
The compressed time frame of the campaign process led to a relatively low turnout for the Democratic caucus and Republican canvass in December. A total of 283 voters — 234 Democrat, 49 Republican — showed up at the polls.
“There’s nothing like trying to cram a nine-month campaign into three weeks,” Herring campaign manager Jennifer Bissett said.
Bissett, who volunteered to help prepare for the Democratic caucus, said the process went smoothly although the conditions were not ideal.
Sean McGowan, executive director of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association, said the organization’s main office in Georgia likes about six weeks to prepare when endorsing candidates.
“We had about six days,” he said. The Alexandria chapter of the group has endorsed Herring for the position.
Murray acknowledged that given the district’s Democratic-leaning history, his campaign would be difficult from the start.
“We know it’s an uphill battle,” he said. “In light of the fact of the quick circumstances of the events — the 100-hour notice, mixed in with [the holidays] … we’re doing as best as we can.”
George Burke, communications committee chairman for the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, said both parties were under the gun to organize.
“Given the importance of having a delegate in place for this upcoming [General Assembly session], the process was done in a manner [in which] both sides had the opportunity to choose a candidate,” he said.
