Norfolk Democrat Graves to fill Virginia House seat
Graves to serve as district’s delegate until fall election
Voters elected democrat Angelia Williams Graves to fill a vacant statehouse seat in the 90th house district in a special election Tuesday.
The seat came open when Joe Lindsey, a Democrat who had held it since 2014, was recently appointed to a judgeship in Norfolk’s General District Court. Lindsey had to step down as a delegate in order to serve as a judge.
With Graves’ victory and Candi King’s in the 2nd District, Virginia’s
House of Delegates will have a record 31 serving, according to Kate Sarna with the House’s Democratic Caucus.
The district has more than 50,000 registered voters, and roughly 11 percent turned out Tuesday. Voters in the district typically back Democratic candidates, though newly drawn lines that went into effect in 2019 slightly reduced that lean, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Graves had 3,668 votes, roughly 63.5%; Bryant had 2,103 votes.
Graves won the Democratic nomination against Richard “Rick” James, a retired Norfolk detective. She will vacate her council seat with three years left in the term.
Sylvia Bryant, a political newcomer and office administrator, ran for Republicans after she beat Mario Portillo.
Graves will serve as the district’s delegate until the general election this fall.
Graves has spent the past decade serving on Norfolk’s City Council and was unchallenged for reelection to the Superward 7 seat earlier this year. If elected to the statehouse, she’d vacate her council seat with three years remaining in the term. She defeated retired Norfolk detective Richard “Rick” James for the Democratic nomination in a firehouse primary.