Breakdown: Primary winner McClellan swept all precincts, but semblance of a contest was in Petersburg
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State Sen. Jennifer McClellan steamrolled to victory in last week's Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District in a race where the closest margins of victory were at two rural polling places and only because less voters turned out there, according to a breakdown of the votes released by the Democratic Party of Virginia.
McClellan, a Petersburg native, swept all eight locations where ballots were cast, accumulating almost 85% of the total 27,900 votes from the primary. In seven of those eight, she ran away and hid from her closest competitor, fellow state Sen. Joe Morrissey of Chesterfield County. It was only in Petersburg, where Morrissey has a great deal of political traction, that the race resembled a contest.
According to DPV numbers, McClellan's margin of victory over Morrissey was 946 votes — the smallest margin among the five precincts where thousands of ballots were cast. McClellan took 2,277 votes to Morrissey's 1,331.
Former Petersburg city attorney Joe Preston was a very distant third with 110, followed by Hopewell business owner Tavorise Marks with 40.
Petersburg also had the highest number of "questionable" ballots, meaning it was hard to determine the voter's choice, with 24. Sixty-six provisional ballots — votes that were cast but only counted after the voter's eligibility was determined — were cast in Petersburg.
In the two precincts in the city of Richmond and one each in Henrico and Chesterfield counties where voters totaled in the thousands, McClellan's victory margins ranged from 2,777 at Meadowdale Library in Chesterfield to 7,164 at the Diversity Thrift Store in Richmond, which was McClellan's home precinct.
Across the 4th District, the two smallest turnouts were Surry County with 491 voters and Charles City County with 754. Both of those spots were last-minute additions to the primary following criticism that voting was centered in the more populous areas. McClellan's margins in Surry and Charles City were 323 votes and 373 votes, respectively.
The third rural location in Brunswick County recorded 916 ballots. McClellan won there by 644 votes.
McClellan now moves on to face Republican Leon Benjamin in a special election Feb. 21, 2023 to fill the seat of the late Rep. Donald McEachin. McEachin died Nov. 28, almost three weeks after defeating Benjamin in the general election to win a fourth term in Washington.
The 4th District stretches from metro Richmond to the Virginia-North Carolina line and includes 15 localities, including all of the Tri-City area.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: State Democrats release breakdown of votes in 4th District primary
