Following the unexpected resignation of state Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg County, for health reasons, Republicans have set a mass meeting on Tuesday to pick their candidate in the Jan. 9 special election.
The mass meeting will be at the Drake’s Branch Fire Department in Charlotte County at 6:30 p.m. and will continue until one candidate passes the 50% mark.
So far there are six announced candidates for the Senate District 9 seat, but more could emerge. The deadline to qualify for the Republican nomination is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
(Editor’s note: We’ll update this story if and when other candidates enter the race.)
The six announced candidates are:
- Del. Jim Edmunds, R-Halifax County, who had previously announced his retirement after new redistricting maps had put him in the same district as Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville. In a post on Facebook, he wrote: “After prayerful thought, I have decided that God may not be done with my public service quite yet!”
- Andy Ferguson, a businessman and pastor from Halifax County.
- Kade Gravitt, a legislative aide to Del. Tommy Wright, R-Lunenburg County.
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi, a member of the Clarksville Town Council and a former legislative aide to Ruff.
- Dale Sturdifen, a former Mecklenburg County School Board member and current member of the Virginia Board of Education. He unsuccessfully challenged Ruff for the Republican nomination in a 2019 primary. He also unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the 4th Congressional District last year.
- Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler.
Ruff has endorsed Mulchi. On Saturday, Vogler released a list of endorsements that included Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick County, and multiple present and former local government officials from Danville and Pittsylvania County. Those included three members of the Danville City Council (Mayor Alonzo Jones and council members James Buckner and Bryant Hood), two members of the Danville School Board (Tyquan Graves and Tyrell Payne), Danville Sheriff Mike Mondul, and four members of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors (Ken Bowman, Darrel Dalton, Tim Dudley and Vic Ingram).
Trudy Berry has announced that she’s seeking the Democratic nomination in the district. Democrats in the district must act by Tuesday to confirm Berry as their nominee.
The district includes Pittsylvania, Halifax, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Lunenburg and Charlotte counties; parts of Prince Edward County; and Danville. By population, Pittsylvania is the largest locality in the district, with 29.22% of the voters, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Danville is the second biggest with 18.56%, followed by Halifax at 16.15%, Mecklenburg at 14.83% and Nottoway at 6.26%. The remaining localities account for less than 6% each.
The district’s voting history is strongly Republican. In the 2022 congressional midterms, the district voted 65.17% Republican, and in the 2021 governor’s race, it voted 65.29% Republican, according to VPAP.
The Jan. 9 special election to pick a successor to Ruff will be one of two in Southside that day. There will also be a special election in House District 48, which covers Martinsville and parts of Pittsylvania and Henry counties, to fill the seat being vacated by Del. Les Adams, R-Pittsylvania County, who resigned Dec. 12 to pursue other opportunities. That means voters in some parts of Pittsylvania will be voting in both the House and Senate special elections.