Virginia Republican candidate Andrew Rice defeated his Democrat opponent, Cheryl Smith, in a Virginia special election to fill a vacant seat in District 98 for the Virginia House of Delegates.
Rice received 7,316 votes, or 62.5 percent of the vote, while Smith received 4,392 votes, or 37.5 percent of the vote, according to election results from the New York Times.
Rice’s 25-point lead comes after former Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) won Virginia’s House of Delegates District 98 in the November gubernatorial election, against now-Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D).
Earle-Sears won the district by 6.7 points more than Spanberger. She received 19,057 votes, or 53.3 percent of the vote, while Spanberger received 16,677 votes, or 46.6 percent of the vote, according to the Virginia Public Access Project website.
The special election for the vacant seat comes after the death of former Virginia Delegate Barry Knight (R), the Virginian-Pilot reported. As the winner, Rice “will serve the remainder of Knight’s two-year term.”
Both Rice, who is a Virginia Beach Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Smith, who previously “challenged Knight,” were described as “political newcomers.”
In a post on X, the Virginia GOP congratulated Rice on his win and described him as a “common-sense conservative leader.”
“Congratulations to Andrew Rice on winning the special election for the 98th House of Delegates district!” the Virginia GOP wrote. “Andrew is a common-sense conservative leader who will push back against Democrat extremism and fight for policies that benefit working families.”
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