McQuinn wins House seat with 656 out of 895 votes

Delores L. McQuinn is trading City Hall for the state Capitol.

McQuinn won a special election yesterday for the House of Delegates seat vacated by Dwight Clinton Jones, who took over Jan. 1 as Richmond's mayor.

She will represent part of Richmond and parts of Chesterfield and Henrico counties.

In another special election yesterday, Republican Barry D. Knight won the right to succeed former Del. Terrie L. Suit to represent parts of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Suit quit the General Assembly to become a lobbyist. Knight is a Hampton Roads hog farmer.

The victors will have to run again soon. All 100 members of the House of Delegates are up for election in November.

McQuinn, the lone candidate on the ballot for the 70th District seat, was re-elected in November to her 7th District City Council seat, so the remaining eight council members will have 45 days to name a successor, and that person will serve at least until a special election in November.

The process starts when McQuinn formally resigns her council seat. As a legislator, she will receive a $135 per diem. This year's General Assembly session starts Jan. 14 and is scheduled to run 45 days.

McQuinn received 656 votes yesterday, and 239 voters wrote in a candidate, according to unofficial results posted on the State Board of Elections' Web site.

"I think there was an organized effort," McQuinn said of the write-in tallies, "but it's democracy at its best, and I'm just grateful for people who have the confidence in me to send me to the statehouse."

Chesterfield's one precinct in the 70th House District posted 11 votes for McQuinn and 84 write-in votes.

According to Chesterfield Registrar Lawrence C. Haake III, unofficial results show 17 of those write-in votes for Rosemarie Y. "Ree" Hart, a Chesterfield Electoral Board member who twice ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Board of Supervisors, and 67 votes for Vanessa Clemens.

Clemens had attempted to get on the ballot.

Henrico results showed 233 votes for McQuinn and 77 write-ins in its eight precincts in the district, according to the Web site.

In Richmond, where the bulk of the district's precincts lie, McQuinn received the most votes, 412; there were 78 write-in votes.

McQuinn campaigned as if she had more formal competition, sending mailers and making phone calls, but miserable weather and a sentiment that the contest appeared to be a done deal likely contributed to low voter turnout. Of the district's 43,682 registered voters, only 895 voted yesterday.
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .

Staff writer Will Jones contributed to this report.