The General Assembly has rolled back into River City to discuss redistricting, among other things. And at the top of the latter list is who should be the new justice on the Virginia’s Supreme Court — the Governor’s pick and current justice, Jane Roush, or the Republican pick, appeals court judge Rossie Alston. Republicans can muscle Alston through the House But the Senate? That’s another thing entirely:
With Republicans holding a 21-19 advantage in the chamber, they need every vote to elect their pick. State Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, expressed discomfort Friday with the partisan divides over this election, and declined to say how he’ll vote.
State Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Midlothian, told The Washington Post he was undecided. Neither is seeking re-election this year.
A third GOP senator, who did not want to discuss the issue on the record, was conflicted on the vote this morning.
Nothing like a little late-summer intrigue to make things interesting.
Though with Watkins and Stosch, they are playing true to form.
Update
The Senate votes 20-20 to keep Roush:
Republican lawmakers in Virginia fell short Monday in their effort to replace with their own candidate a sitting justice of the state Supreme Court appointed last month by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), leaving unresolved a bitter partisan battle between the administration and the GOP-controlled General Assembly.
For weeks Republican leaders have promised to elect Court of Appeals Judge Ronnie D. Alston Jr. to replace McAuliffe’s recent appointee, Jane Marum Roush, a former Circuit Court judge in Fairfax County
But the Senate voted down Alston’s nomination by a vote of 20-21, with one vote cast against the nomination by a Republican and another, tie-breaking vote by Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D).
