Joe Morrissey Bets on Republicans and Busts Big
If you have not heard of Virginia State Senator Joe Morrissey, now is a hell of time to learn about him. Morrissey was the Commonwealth's Attorney in the early 90’s, and his time there most famously includes a courtroom brawl with the opposing counsel. Afterword Morrissey moved on to private practice and teaching, subsequently getting his law license suspended for assaulting yet another attorney.
In 2007, Morrissey was elected to the House of Delegates and his antics continued there. Morrissey made national headlines when he brought an AK-47 onto the House floor while he was advocating for stricter gun laws.
In what figured to be a disgusting end to his career, Morrissey had a sexual relationship with his 17-year-old employee in 2013. This would result in him being convicted of the charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Morrissey resigned his seat as a legislator but would then win it back in as an independent. He served that his jail sentence while serving as a member of the House of Delegates.
Following his 2015 legislative session, Morrissey was kicked out of the House of Delegates when he filed to run for a state Senate seat outside of his district. He dropped out of that race but then challenged incumbent Democrat Rosalyn Dance and went on to win that primary in 2019. This gave Morrissey the ability to crawl into a strong position of power in Virginia politics. Morrissey’s former teenage employee was now his wife and the mother of 3 of his children.
As Morrissey joined the Democrats in the Virginia Senate, the Democrats controlling the House, Senate, and Governor of Virginia. This meant that Democrats could pass their agenda, and Morrissey was eager to pass criminal justice reform, gun control, and other liberal issues. However, one issue that would set him apart from other Democrats was his stance on abortion. Morrissey was the only Democrat to vote against a bill to loosen restrictions on abortion providers. That bill that is now law and was ironically introduced by his opponent for Congress, Jennifer McClellan.
Morrissey is up for reelection to the State Senate in 2023 and expects a difficult primary against Lashrecse Aird. Aird has previously gained support from the difference in their positions on abortion to gain support, and figures to do so again.
Morrissey was confronted on his abortion stance on air during his radio show in May of 2022. he became so enraged at his producer for that question that the producer feared for his safety and later got a restraining order against Morrissey.
With the sudden death of Congressman Donald McEachin, Governor Glenn Youngkin called for a quick special election to replace him. I cannot get into the head of Youngkin as to the timing, but Youngkin chose sooner rather than later, giving the two parties only a week to scramble to nominate their candidates. Whether intentional or not, this choice could result in a vacancy in the Virginia Senate with one of the two State Senators resigning to go to Washington as the new Congress representitive.
This is where Morrissey decides to bet on Republican support. The radio show that Morrissey hosts is part of the John Fredericks Radio Network, run by a far-right radio personality who loves sticking it to the libs. While McClellan was getting support from Democrats and getting supporters to canvass for her, Morrissey was running ads on a conservative radio show.
I thought at first that this was just his boss doing him a favor to get him elected and promote his own radio network. But when I listened to the rebroadcast of the show (and Brandon Jarvis reported) I realized it was a paid advertisement from the Morrissey campaign. Not only that, but John Frederick's claimed that he got Republicans to come out and support Morrissey back in 2019.
As the primary got underway, I went to my nearest polling location at Diversity Thrift in Richmond. I counted over 300 people standing in line to vote despite temperatures in the 30’s. There were no signs that Republicans were out to support Morrissey. In fact, the opposite seemed to happen. The fear of Republicans coming out for Morrissey seemed to mobilize more Democrat voters in a heavily blue Congressional district. I checked social media all day and saw engagement from people excited to have voted for Jennifer McClellan, I nothing of this sort for Morrissey.
Elections are not decided by who gets the most attention on Twitter, so the public waited for the results due the next day. Those results over 84% of voters selected McClellan in a record turnout for a special election primary. Morrissey's bet to get Republicans out failed.
What's next for Morrissey? He will get to spend the next two months serving out his term as a state Senator. He will be sitting alongside Jennifer McClellan at least until February 21, the date of general election she is expected to easily win. Then Morrissey will have to prepare for his primary challenge later in the summer.
Morrissey will have the stain of defeat on him while his opponent has plenty of ammunition for the upcoming primary next summer with the lesson that he cannot rely on Republicans to carry him to victory in a Democratic primary.
I was wondering why I was always seeing his name on Twitter in Virginia politics. Thank you for the rundown!