A longtime Democratic state senator has officially shot down rumors that he’s planning to retire and join the Youngkin administration.
John Edwards (D-Roanoke) put the kibosh on any speculation when asked if he’d head to Richmond come January, simply saying “No, absolutely not, I can’t imagine they’d want me.” (Cardinal News)
Edwards, 78, has represented the 21st Senate District for 25 years. He chairs the Judiciary Committee and also serves on the Commerce and Labor, Education and Health, Finance and Appropriations, and Rules committees. Widely considered a moderate Democrat, he unseated a Republican incumbent when first elected in 1995, although his district has changed since then to become more Democratic.
Attempts at luring moderate lawmakers into serving in a new administration of the opposite party in order to tip the power balance in the state legislature aren’t uncommon, said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “Anytime there is a one or two seat margin in the legislature, a new governor thinks about possible ways to take control of that chamber that is oh so close,” Farnsworth said.
It happened before in 1997, when the newly elected Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore tapped three members of the House, where Democrats held a one-seat majority, to join his administration. Among them was a Democrat who opened up a seat the Republicans won in a subsequent special election. But before the new members were seated, Democrats used their short-lived majority to elect a speaker and set up the rules of the House.
While Republicans regained the majority in the House of Delegates earlier this month, Democrats still hold a slim 21-19 majority in the state Senate. It would take just one tempted Democrat in a competitive district to join Youngkin’s administration, and a special election could result in a Republican victory and a 20-20 stalemate in the Senate, where Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears, the winning GOP candidate, could break the tie.
