Let’s see…
Convicted felon Leonidas Young declared for the House seat of accused felon Joe Morrissey (at Morrissey’s law office), and Young — who got his voting rights restored by convicted felon Bob McDonnell (who is appealing his conviction) — says he wants to be a model for McDonnell, second chances, forgiveness and such and such.
A rich tapestry. Young’s appearance at Morrissey’s office served as the incumbent’s tacit endorsement of Young’s candidacy against Henrico school board member Lamont Bagby.
It also means, but is not yet official, that Joe is not running for re-election to the 74th House district seat.
The speculation turns to what he will do next. Sen. Rosalyn Dance is probably going to get another primary challenger (or at least that would fit with the history between the two).
But, you say, Joe doesn’t live in Dance’s district. And that raises a whole new set of questions around the 74th district contest. Will the seat become vacant before the primary? Will there be another special election? Can anybody here play this game?
Open questions that leads to a much deeper question: why was Joe in office throughout the General Assembly session, despite Virginia pols like Terry McAuliffe, David Toscano and Bill Howell thundering that his presence in that august body was intolerable, an affront, an embarrassment, and so on.
But the worthies did manage to finish their legislative business a bit early this year, so it’s all good, right?
