On Saturday, Democrats held a firehouse primary to pick a replacement for Sen. Henry Marsh who resigned to take a seat on the ABC Board. Del. Rosalyn Dance of Petersburg won despite the Democrat Machine lining up behind Richmond Del. Delores McQuinn. McGuinn had the backing of Marsh’s machine and DPVA Chairman and Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones.
Dance’s win caught Democrats by surprise and seems to have sent the party into panic mode given her “perceived friendliness with Republicans” and potential wavering on Medicaid expansion.
So tonight comes breaking news from Ryan Nobles at NBC12 that the Richmond Democratic Party is refusing to certify the primary results citing the possibility of fraud:
Developing story in #RVA related to the replacement of Henry Marsh.. City Dems will not certify Rosylan Dance as the winner of the caucus.
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 12, 2014
The #RVA City Dem Chair is citing possible voter fraud. He also happens to be Delores McQuinn's son.. who lost the race.
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 12, 2014
#RVA City Dems will hold an emergency conference call on the Marsh replacement situation. Led by state party chair & Mayor, Dwight Jones.
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 12, 2014
It’ll be interesting to see how strong these accusations are and how they hold up. As much coverage as the internal fighting in the Republican Party gets in the media, Democratic infighting (which happens as frequently if not moreso) rarely makes headlines.
Seven years ago, the Richmond area saw Democrats go after one of their own when then Delegate Donald McEachin challenged Senator Benjamin Lambert after Sen. Lambert broke ranks with the party and endorsed George Allen in his bid for re-election in 2006. Sen. Lambert’s endorsement was thanks to Allen’s steady support for historically black colleges and universities, an issue near and dear to Lambert. “Benedict” Lambert’s perceived disloyalty to the party resulted in a 58%-42% defeat in a 2007 primary.
The Democrat Machine appears to be seeking to destroy the political career of another elected Democrat who has drawn party ire for being friendly with Republicans. Del. Joe Morrissey and Sen. Marsh worked together to engineer a strong primary challenge to Dance in 2013. Now she has the nomination to replace Marsh in the Senate and that has them seeing red (or a purplish shade of it at least).
This level of party purity is something the Democrats and press accuse Republicans of struggling with. But the Democrats are showing that they can do one better when it comes to destroying one of their own when they’re perceived as having left the reservation.
UPDATE: According to reports from Ryan Nobles, McQuinn is not the source of the allegation and that the DPVA state steering committee has until Friday to decide if there is any merit to the accusations.
Some clarity on the Marsh replacement situation. It's not the City Dems waiting to certify but the Sen district committee..
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 12, 2014
There is a genuine allegation of voter fraud but it does not come from McQuinn..
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 12, 2014
One person tightly connected to this said a state steering committee will decide if there is merit to the fraud. They have until Friday.
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 12, 2014
