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But despite his star status here, state Sen. Joseph D. Morrissey (D-Richmond), 65, is battling for his political life in one of the most closely watched primary contests of the year. Democratic leaders have launched a high-stakes effort to get rid of him at a time when his penchant for scandal has flared again, and when he seems out of step with his party on one of the hottest issues of the day: abortion rights.
Morrissey says he believes in a woman’s right to choose but is personally opposed to abortion, and he has signaled willingness to consider a ban after 15 weeks, as proposed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. With every seat in the legislature on the ballot this fall and Democrats defending a razor-thin Senate majority, a Morrissey defection on abortion could help Republicans achieve their goal.
His opponent in the June 20 Democratic primary — former delegate Lashrecse Aird, 36 — is a staunch defender of abortion rights. The most powerful Democratic women in the Senate have lined up behind her and against their colleague, Morrissey — an unusual breach of decorum in the tradition-bound chamber. The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has done the same.
Many Democrats see Aird as the perfect alternative to Morrissey: a female candidate at a time when women are powering the party’s gains, a person of color in a majority-minority district, an energetic young progressive.
But Aird is trying to come back from a stumble of her own. Losing her House seat to a Republican in the red wave of 2021 was a shocking upset that helped the GOP regain control of that chamber.
Now Democrats can’t afford another slip in her challenge to Morrissey, who has made a career out of defying the odds. In this heavily blue district, whoever wins the Democratic primary is almost certain to prevail in the fall general election. If party leaders fail to unseat Morrissey, experts predict he will emerge stronger than ever and beholden to no one.
“If Morrissey wins, he will have even less allegiance to the party than he’s had previously,” said Bob Holsworth, a longtime Richmond political analyst. “It has tremendous implications, on abortion and everything else, actually. Morrissey will be his own person.”
The Senate’s 13th District revolves around Petersburg, an old city south of Richmond with the highest concentration of Black residents in the state and a litany of urban ills. The district stretches up into Henrico County on the east side of Richmond, where there are actually twice as many voters as in Petersburg, and spreads into several rural counties.
Morrissey is White, but he has long cultivated an image as an establishment-fighting defense attorney that has resonated in marginalized communities — though he is currently disbarred. He once represented eastern Henrico as a state delegate, stepping down in 2014 when he was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor over a relationship with his 17-year-old law office receptionist. He won reelection from jail, then almost immediately had to step down again when he filed to run for state Senate. That race was unsuccessful.
In 2019, Morrissey staged a stunning political comeback by beating incumbent Rosalyn Dance in a Democratic Party primary for the state Senate and scoring some 80 percent of the vote in her native Petersburg.
At that point, with Democrats aiming to take control of the Senate, party leaders scrambled to make nice with Morrissey. He had married his young girlfriend and blunted the sense of scandal by presenting a stable family life. Every year, constituents received calendars crammed with photos of the Morrisseys and their three children, and Myrna Morrissey joined him at public events and fundraisers.
But in the past couple of years, the marriage has unraveled in stunningly public fashion. The two have been living apart; earlier this year Morrissey accused his wife’s boyfriend of beating their son — a judge later found no evidence of a crime and rescinded a protective order against Myrna Morrissey. On May 18, Myrna Morrissey filed divorce papers that alleged years of abuse, including claims that Morrissey choked and slapped her, called her degrading names and fathered children with another woman. Joe Morrissey counters that the charges are “absolutely false.”
Aird, meanwhile, began laying the groundwork to run for the Senate more than a year ago. She had been an ambitious member of the young-guard Democrats in the House of Delegates when she lost in 2021, which many pundits blamed on underestimating GOP turnout in rural parts of the district.
An executive at Virginia State University — her alma mater — Aird lives in Petersburg with her husband and two young sons. Once redistricting made it clear that her attempt at a political comeback would cross paths with Morrissey, Aird said, she didn’t get much encouragement.
“All I heard over and over again was, ‘Oh, man. Morrissey is a prolific campaigner. He can’t be beaten,’” Aird said, adding that many people told her Morrissey was “Teflon,” that no negative publicity could hurt him.
“And I felt like, okay, I’m taking on this uphill battle on my own, but it needs to be done,” she said.
But Morrissey’s magic seemed to fade last winter when he challenged then-Sen. Jennifer McClellan for the Democratic nomination to replace the late A. Donald McEachin in the 4th Congressional District. Fresh off Democratic victories in the congressional midterms nationwide, party leaders rallied around McClellan — a woman of color who campaigned on abortion rights. She crushed Morrissey, winning about 85 percent of the vote with better-than-expected turnout.
Aird took hope from that. Then when state Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) called to say a group of women senators was going to endorse her, “I was almost brought to tears,” Aird said.
“Lashrecse Aird would be a great addition to the Senate caucus because she would be a strong vote in support of the issues near and dear to our heart,” Lucas, who is locked in her own tough primary battle, said in an interview. With Morrissey, “you never know from one vote to another whether he’s not going to be with our party,” she said.
In 2023, Morrissey was among the most independent-minded Democrats in the Senate, voting with his caucus 79 percent of the time, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). Two other Democratic senators had slightly lower rates of voting unity, VPAP found. On the Senate’s one major abortion-related vote this year — considering a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights — Morrissey was present but did not vote. The 21 other Democrats voted yes; all 18 Republicans voted no.
Reproductive rights groups view Morrissey as a threat and have rallied around Aird. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, for instance, is sponsoring digital ads and has deployed volunteers to knock on doors in the district.
“It’s actually very rare for us to get involved in primaries,” said Jamie Lockhart, executive director of the Virginia group. “But this is a top priority for us.”
Earlier this month, Aird spent a week on a “Roe Not Joe” tour, visiting women’s health facilities in communities around the district. She has also created ads that highlight her family, such as one in which she and her husband play the game “Uno” with their two sons — never mentioning Morrissey’s family troubles, but implying a contrast.
“The race is not about going after Joe Morrissey, it’s about defining Lashrecse Aird,” said Mark Bergman, the longtime political consultant for former governor Ralph Northam (D), who is working on advertising for Aird.
Despite his recent troubles, Morrissey, too, has emphasized family. He has at least one billboard on the highway approaching Petersburg that depicts him with his estranged wife and children. Morrissey has moved to Petersburg and is renovating an 1850s house, and brings his young children to churches and events around town.
He’s said his Catholic faith shapes his personal opposition to abortion, but claims that he firmly believes in a woman’s right to choose. Though he put out a mailer claiming that he has “never voted to restrict abortion access,” Morrissey co-sponsored a bill in 2022 — along with Sen. Amanda F. Chase (R-Chesterfield), one of the legislature’s most ardent abortion opponents — that would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks unless the mother’s health was severely threatened.
Virginia law allows abortions through the second trimester — about 26 weeks — and in the third trimester if three doctors agree it is necessary. The 2022 bill never made it out of committee, so Morrissey never got a chance to vote on it.
Morrissey and Aird have each amassed large campaign war chests. He had raised about $570,000 as of March 31, according to VPAP, and she had raised about $575,000.
While Aird has picked up endorsements from party leaders, Morrissey has reported endorsements from a parade of local officials in Petersburg, such as Mayor Samuel Parham.
“Like him or not, he’s going to show up and do his job,” Parham said of Morrissey. “I need somebody who’s going to fight for a city like Petersburg that has been an underdog for quite some time.”
Parham singled out Morrissey’s support for the city’s effort to get a casino, which he said Aird did nothing to advance during her time in the House. The question of abortion, Parham added, is a national issue, and takes a back seat to his city’s more immediate needs for economic development, less crime and higher-achieving schools.
Though Morrissey sent out a campaign mailer with quotes of praise from a handful of senators, some did not respond when asked by a reporter if their quotes were intended as endorsements. Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) — who is retiring this year — said via email that “a year ago I announced that I was supporting the reelection of all of our incumbents and I am keeping my word.”
In Morrissey’s old stomping ground of eastern Henrico, Aird has flipped the script, picking up support from local leaders. Her army of surrogates there is led by county supervisor Tyrone Nelson, who is also a local pastor and the cousin of state Sen. Lamont Bagby (D-Richmond), the chairman of the Black Caucus and another Aird backer.
“Joe definitely has done a good job building a brand for himself, but we’ll see how that translates. I think we’ve got a solid candidate in Delegate Aird and I’m behind her confidently,” Nelson said. His help could be crucial in getting voters to the polls, as it was in McClellan’s congressional win in the same part of the region.
Aird and Morrissey have both been hitting the sidewalks on a regular basis, knocking on doors to drum up support. On a recent weekday in a historic Black neighborhood in Petersburg called The Heights, Aird made a polished pitch for improving the local school system, making the violence-prone community safer, and ensuring access to health care — with an emphasis on abortion rights.
The litany resonated with Jean Lewis, age “60-plus,” who was painting her home’s white picket fence. “Good for you!” Lewis exclaimed to Aird. “I love all of this. That is really, really great.”
Again and again, women told Aird that defending abortion access was a priority. “Excuse me for saying what I’m saying,” Harriet Goodson, 80, said to Aird’s male campaign manager as they spoke on the woman’s front porch, “but I don’t think a man has any right to tell a woman what to do with her body.”
But the dynamic was different for Morrissey on another weekday in another predominantly Black neighborhood. Many residents said the main thing they care about is that Morrissey seems to fight for ordinary people.
“I hear all the different controversies and different things, but I’ve seen what he’s done in the community. I’ve seen what he’s done, hands-on — you know what I’m saying?” said Jacqueline Evans, 64, who stopped her car to speak with Morrissey when she saw him on the street. He had helped her son when he had a bit of legal trouble, Evans said. “He definitely is a fighter in every sense of the word.”
Morrissey’s message for voters was succinct: He pointed out that he has gotten nine African American judges confirmed to various courts and sponsored legislation to end the death penalty and end solitary confinement. Then he gave out his phone number and offered to help with any problems.
As he walked from home to home on a brilliant sunny afternoon, Morrissey said he relished having so many forces arrayed against him. In 2019, he pointed out, absolutely no one thought he could beat the incumbent senator in Petersburg.
“The experts all said, ‘Oh, Joe’s got all these scandals.’ We won Petersburg 72 to 28, and in every ward — White, Black — by at least 70 percent,” Morrissey said. “So I feel good about it. But as I told somebody, I’m more afraid in life of losing than I get satisfaction from winning. And that’s what makes me go.”
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