Happy Friday Second District! 

In today's newsletter, we share the details for this Sunday's firehouse primary in the 9th Senate District, provide a reminder about the 2nd & 5th District zoning survey that closes on Sunday, and look ahead to next week, including the formal start of the Council budget process. As always, be sure to check out the bulletin board for upcoming events, City resources, and engagement opportunities. 

Sunday's 9th District State Senate Special Election
Following Congresswoman-elect Jennifer McClellan's historic election to Congress (congratulations to my friend, neighbor and Second District constituent!), a special election is being held to fill the Senator's soon to be vacant seat. While the general election will not take place until March 28th, state parties need to nominate candidates for the seat by this Monday. 

The Democratic Nominating Committee of the 9th Senate District (SD-9) will hold an unassembled caucus (otherwise known as a firehouse primary) to select the Democratic nominee this Sunday, February 26th, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the following locations (you may vote at any one of the locations):

• Virginia Union University, Living and Learning Center, 1500 N. Lombardy St., Richmond, VA 23220
• IBEW 666, 1400 E Nine Mile Rd, Highland Springs, VA 23075
• East Henrico Government Center, 3820 Nine Mile Road, Richmond, VA 23223
• Ashland Municipal Building, 121 Thompson St, Ashland, VA 23005
• Charles City County Administration Building, 10900 Courthouse Road, Charles City, Virginia 23030

The election will be conducted in the 9th State Senate District boundaries, under the pre-2020 census redistricting lines. About half of the Second District is in the 9th State Senate District, so if you're unsure about your district, look-up your address here. 

Any registered voter in the 9th Senatorial District who meets the participation requirements outlined in the call to caucus will be eligible to vote at any of the caucus voting locations. For more information, check out the DPVA special election page. 

Currently, three candidates have announced their intention to seek the Democratic nomination in Sunday's primary: Delegate Lamont Bagby, Delegate Dawn Adams, and Alexsis Rodgers. You can read more about all three candidates here. 

I will enthusiastically support whomever emerges from this weekend’s primary, but will be casting my vote Sunday for Alexsis Rodgers. I’ve known Alexsis since her days at Virginia Planned Parenthood, when I was part of the VARatifyERA team advocating at the General Assembly for the Equal Rights Amendment. Alexsis’ legislative work on reproductive rights and healthcare as well as her uncompromising commitment to the environment, to me, best meet the moment and reflect the priorities Senator McClellan fought for in her distinguished tenure. 

Because this is going to be a party-run process on short notice, there is a great need for volunteers to help staff the polls and assist voters. If you are interested in supporting that effort in Richmond, you can sign-up here. As of this writing, there is no indication that the Republican Party plans to hold a nominating process for this election. 

Upcoming City Meetings
I want to highlight a number of important City meetings coming up next week, including: 

• City Council's First Budget Work Session will be on Monday at 2pm, agenda here. This marks the formal start of the Council budget season, and will be the first of many public meetings for Council to align its priorities, and receive public feedback ahead of final adoption of the budget in May. The Mayor will be announcing his proposed budget on Monday, March the 6th. 
• City Council's Formal Meeting will be held on Monday at 6pm. The agenda includes consideration of two papers of interest in the Second District-- ORD. 2023-047, which awards state grant funding to the Moore Street School Foundation for the purpose of assisting in the renovation and rehabilitation of the historic Moore St School behind Carver Elementary, and ORD. 2023-053, which allocates $3.5 million towards mandated upgrades to the Diamond that Major League Baseball requires of all franchisees. You can read more about the background on this here. As with the recently installed and MLB-required light upgrades, the City will ensure that any and all upgrades that can be carried over to the new stadium will be. 
• The Public Safety Committee will meet on Wednesday at 1pm. You can find the full agenda here. 
• The Education & Human Services Committee will meet on Thursday at 2pm. The agenda includes presentations on the construction timelines for Fox and George Wythe, as well as a budget update from School Board Chair Rizzi.  

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