Local Republicans make pitch for Morrissey in Tuesday's Democratic primary

Messages of support from local Republicans for state Sen. Joe Morrissey in next Tuesday’s 13^th Senate District Democratic primary were requested as a personal favor and not done as part of his official re-election campaign, Morrissey said Thursday.

Two businesspeople with strong GOP ties reached out to their friends who live in the district this week to encourage them to go to the polls and vote for Morrissey over challenger Lashrecse Aird. The messages – copies of which were obtained by The Progress-Index – spoke of how Morrissey frequently works with Republican colleagues in the General Assembly while Aird tended to be more partisan during her time representing Petersburg in the House of Delegates from 2016-22.

One of those messages, from businessperson Brad Slaybaugh, referred to Morrissey as a “moderate and reasonable Democrat who works across the aisle” and Aird as a “far-left, pro-abortion, anti-business liberal.” The other message, from Chester real-estate agent Riley Ingram Jr., noted how Morrissey “was not afraid to reach across the aisle to get things done for all of us.”

Slaybaugh is a founder of the citizens group Virginia Rising. He refers to himself in the Morrissey message as “a staunch Republican with strong ties to Republicans in central Virginia.”

Ingram Jr. is the son of former GOP Del. Riley Ingram of Hopewell, who served in the House for 28 years before retiring three years ago. He is a managing broker in the real estate firm co-founded by his father.

Both men confirmed the authenticity of the messages to The Progress-Index.

“Joe’s done a very good job. Lashrecse Aird would not,” Slaybaugh said. He added that he texted the message rather than send a letter because he thought there was not enough time between now and Tuesday to do a mailing.

“I just feel Joe is the better of the two candidates,” Ingram Jr said, adding that he did not specifically target Republicans in his letter.

Neither of them live in the 13th District. Slaybaugh is a Colonial Heights resident and Ingram has his home in Chester. Both are in the 12th Senate District, which encompasses Colonial Heights and portions of Chesterfield County.

The 13th District runs from eastern Dinwiddie County to eastern Henrico County. It includes the cities of Petersburg and Hopewell, and the counties of Sussex, Surry and Charles City.

Under Virginia election law, anyone regardless of their political persuasion can vote in either a Democratic or Republican primary. In the 13^th District, only the Democratic nomination is being contested. The expected Republican challenger is Eric Ditri of Prince George County.

Many political observers say the new district tends to vote Democratic.

In a phone conversation with The Progress-Index Thursday morning, Morrissey denied his campaign was involved in soliciting those messages. Instead, he said, they were more of a friendly request.

“I reached out to Brad, who has asked me to come speak at his business on three separate occasions, and asked him if he would mind writing a letter of support for me,” Morrissey said. “He said he would be happy to do that.”

Morrissey said he also made the same request of Ingram. When asked if the messages were orchestrated by his campaign, Morrissey replied emphatically, “False! Absolutely false!”

However, in two Richmond-area radio appearances Thursday morning, Morrissey noted Virginia being an open-primary state and said Republicans should be allowed to vote Tuesday.

"This election determines who will be the next senator, and I don't think it's a bad thing to work across the aisle," Morrissey said on WRVA.

Aird responded to the messages, saying that Morrissey was “abandoning the values” of the district’s voters “for self-preservation.” She also accused Morrissey of encouraging Republicans to "interfere" in the primary by voting. Tuesday.

Her campaign has tried to paint Morrissey as more Republican than Democrat, especially in his views on reproductive rights. 

Aird is known as a champion of abortion rights. Morrissey says his Catholic faith does not allow him to support the procedure, but he does support the decision as one to be made by a woman and her doctor outside of the political realm.

“It’s sad that he must resort to this, but it’s emblematic of someone who knows that Democratic primary voters no longer tolerate his positions or behavior,” she said.

The 13^th District Democratic primary has been one of the most closely watched races of the 2023 campaign season — not to mention its most hotly contested. Even though the district has been called safely Democratic, many in the party are looking to it as a bellwether for the future of reproductive rights, particularly in the South where pro-life supporters have scored several legislative victories against abortion.

Aird has raised more than $1.3 million in her campaign to unseat Morrissey, a former Richmond prosecutor and delegate whose political and personal life has been played out in social media for some time. She also has racked up endorsements from major Virginia Democrats, including both U.S. senators, several congressional representatives and many of Morrissey’s Democratic colleagues in the state Senate.

Morrissey is enjoying staunch support from five of the seven members of Petersburg City Council, including Mayor Sam Parham. Parham and Morrissey worked closely on the effort to bring a casino to Petersburg earlier this year.

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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: Republicans pitch Morrissey over Aird in Democratic priary