Morrissey answers Aird endorsements with 31 backers who 'intimately' know them both
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
PETERSBURG — The Democratic incumbent in next month’s 13th Senate District primary is touting support of elected officials across the district, saying those endorsements matter more than others “who have not set foot" in the 13th.
Joe Morrissey also added that the endorsements show which candidate is a “work horse” and which candidate is a “show horse.”
In a mailer released Thursday, Morrissey claimed the backing of 31 current and former leaders from six of the eight localities that comprise the new district. Ten of them are from the city of Petersburg, including six of the seven members of City Council.
The front page depicts the outline of a shadow figure with this word bubble: “The secret is out about who is endorsing Joe Morrissey for Senate.”
In a separate statement announcing the endorsements, Morrissey said the support comes from people who have previously worked with both him and former Del. Lashrecse Aird of Petersburg.
“There are two types of elected officials – ‘work horses’ and ‘show horses,’ Morrissey said. “Local elected officials who know both candidates intimately know that Morrissey is a work horse and that Lashrecse Aird is simply a show horse.”
During her campaign, Aird has prominently shown all the endorsements she has picked up, many from prominent Virginia Democrats and organizations that traditionally support Democratic candidates. One of those endorsements came from the state Senate Democratic Women’s Caucus — Sens. Mamie Locke of Hampton, Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, Janet Howell of Fairfax County, Barbara Favola of Arlington County, Jennifer Boysko of Loudoun County and Ghazala Hashmi of Chesterfield County.
“That’s an endorsement from six women who have never set foot in my district,” Morrissey said.
Morrissey’s mailer said these elected officials were backing him:
Petersburg: Mayor Sam Parham; Vice Mayor Darrin Hill; councilors Marlow Jones, Charlie Cuthbert, Howard Myers and Arnold Westbrook Jr.; School Board members Hal Miles and Celeste Wynn; and former councilors Fenton Bland and Ken Pritchett
Hopewell: Councilors Rita Joyner and Janice Denton; Sheriff Travis Stanley; former mayors Patience Bennett and Christina Luman-Bailey; and former vice mayor Ray Edmonds
Prince George: Board of Supervisors chair Donald Hunter; supervisors Floyd Brown and Alan Carmichael; and School Board members Cecil Smith and Chris Johnson
Dinwiddie: School Board members Barbara Pittman and Jerry Schnepf Jr.
Sussex: Board of Supervisors members Susan Seward and Eric Fly; Waverly Mayor Angela MacPhaul and businessperson Jesse Hellyer
Charles City: Sheriff Alan Jones; School Board member Preston Adkins; and Stephen Adkins, chief and administrator of the Chickahominy Native American tribe
In what Morrissey said was an oversight in editing, the mailer incorrectly identifies the Petersburg vice mayor as “Darrell” Hill and misspelled Petersburg councilor Jones’ first name as “Marlo.” Morrissey told The Progress-Index Friday that he has personally apologized to Hill and Jones.
Morrissey’s statement released Friday quotes Parham, the Petersburg mayor, substantiating the senator’s alliteration to work horses and show horses.
“In the six years that I worked with Lashrecse Aird in the city of Petersburg, she did not show up to one single meeting of City Council in order to champion or advance a single cause,” Parham’s quote reads. “Morrissey, on the other hand, has come before City Council on dozens of occasions. Morrissey is simply a work horse."
Parham’s endorsement was not unexpected given that he and Morrissey were the two most vocal supporters of bringing a casino to Petersburg over the past two years. Parham also has a strained relationship with Aird dating back to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when the latter, as a member of the House of Delegates, got then-Gov. Ralph Northam to intervene in stopping the cutoff of water services to delinquent customers in the city.
The mayor also supported Morrissey in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District seat that became vacant with the November 2022 death of Rep. Donald McEachin. Former state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, a Petersburg native, easily won the party nod in a primary and went on to an overwhelming victory in the special election over Republican Leon Benjamin.
The winner of the June 20 Democratic primary will face GOP candidate Eric Ditri of Prince George County next November.
More: Morrissey responds to Aird ad: Being pro-life is not 'something that's evil'
More: New Morrissey ad lambasts 'Lashrecse's lies' on reproductive rights
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: Morrissey rolls out his own endorsements, calls Aird 'a show horse'
