Medicaid vote emerges as key for candidates in GOP primaries

RICHMOND, VA. >> A top Virginia Republican who upset much of his party by supporting Medicaid expansion defeated a conservative challenger Tuesday in a state legislative primary that could serve as a political barometer for the coming presidential year. But a lesser-known GOP delegate who also backed expansion lost to a more conservative challenger in a key swing district, which could make it harder for Republicans to keep their majority in the House come November.

And in an improbable political comeback, a former Virginia lawmaker who used to spend his days at the state Capitol and his nights in jail after being accused of having sex with his teenage secretary defeated an incumbent senator in a Democratic primary.

The state’s 2017 elections were an early warning signal that a blue wave of opposition to President Donald Trump would wash over the 2018 U.S. midterms, and now political analysts are looking for clues about 2020.

On the GOP side, lingering resentment over last year’s vote to expand Medicaid in Virginia fueled divisive contests.

Republican voters punished a House of Delegates member who voted to expand Medicaid last year, opting instead for a more conservative challenger who could make it harder for Republicans to keep their majority in the House. The Fredericksburg-area district won by Paul Milde over Del. Bob Thomas will be heavily contested during the November election.

But pro-expansion Republican Sen. Emmett Hanger, one of the state’s most powerful senators, fended off his challenger, Tina Freitas, Tuesday.

Adding a significant new headache for Democrats on Tuesday was Joe Morrissey’s victory over incumbent Sen. Rosalyn Dance in a Richmond-area senate district. Morrissey was jailed four years ago after a sex scandal involving a teenager, whom Morrissey later married. He denied wrongdoing but entered an Alford plea to a misdemeanor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction.