08-04-2025
The primary menu for June 17: Heavy on the state races and a first time for Petersburg
PETERSBURG – Now that the deadline has passed, we have a clear picture of who is running and where they are running in the June 17 party nomination primaries across our area.
Because nomination races for lieutenant governor and attorney general are being contested, every single locality across our area will have an opportunity to vote. However, some of them also feature battles on a more local level, such as state delegates and constitutional officers.
Around here, though, there appears to be only one contested primary for a constitutional officer, and that is in Petersburg. Incumbent Brittany Flowers and challenger Mary Howard are vying for the Democratic nomination for commissioner of the revenue. The rest of the constitutional office contests will be on the November ballot.
Under legislation from the General Assembly that went into effect last year, candidates for council and constitutional offices – commissioner of the revenue, sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, treasurer and clerk of the Circuit Court – have the option of seeking a political party nomination for the office they seek. Last year, the only local candidate with party backing was Darrin Hill, Petersburg's vice mayor who received the Democratic nomination for his Ward 2 council seat.
That does not stop anyone from running for local office. It just means they would do so as an independent candidate.
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At the statewide-office level, there will be Democratic and Republican primaries for lieutenant governor, and a Democratic primary for the state attorney general.
For lieutenant governor, two state senators and a former Richmond mayor are among the six names on the Democratic primary ballot. They are state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi of Chesterfield and Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach; former Richmond mayor Levar Stoney; northern Virginia attorneys Alex Bastiani and Victor Salgado; and Prince William County School Board member Babur Lateef.
On the GOP side, the candidates are northern Virginia business consultant John Curran; Fairfax County supervisor Pat Herrity; and former Richmond radio personality John Reid.
Incumbent Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is running for governor as a Republican against former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat. Both secured their parties' nominations after no one else qualified for the ballots.
Petersburg Councilor Marlow Jones is running an independent bid for lieutenant governor and will not be in either primary.
For attorney general, incumbent Republican Jason Miyares was unopposed in the party for a second term. His Democratic opponent will be either former Del. Jay Jones of Norfolk or Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor.
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Only one House of Delegates seat – the 75th that covers Hopewell, Prince George and portions of Chesterfield County – will feature a primary. Democrats Lindsey Dougherty, Stephen Miller-Pitts and Dustin Wade will square off for the right to face GOP incumbent Carrie Coyner. Dougherty and Miller-Pitts have run against Coyner in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
The district is majority, but not overwhelmingly, Republican-leaning. Over the last three elections, Coyner has won with no more than 55% of the vote.
Virginia Democrats have targeted Coyner as one of 12 'vulnerable' Republicans as they try to intensify their majority lead in the House, as well as the state Senate. One of the others deemed vulnerable is Del. Kim Taylor of Dinwiddie County, whose 82nd district stretches from eastern Dinwiddie through Petersburg and Prince George to Surry County.
Taylor, running for a third term, will face Democrat Kimberly Pope Adams in a repeat of the expensive 2023 contest. That race came down to a court-mandated recount and was won by Taylor with a whisker-thin margin of 53 votes.
Taylor and Pope Adams were both unopposed for their nominations.
Other local House races on the general election ballot include Republican incumbent Mike Cherry of Colonial Heights defending against Democrat Jonas Eppert of Chester in the 74th House District covering Colonial Heights and part of Chesterfield; and Otto Wachsmann of Stoney Creek facing former Emporia Mayor Mary Person in the 83rd. The 83rd runs north-south from Dinwiddie County to the state line, and east west from Isle of Wight to Brunswick counties.
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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Who will be on Tri-City area ballots for the June 17 primary
