Firehouse primary set to choose republican nominee in Va. House race

WASHINGTON — Craig Parisot has won the firehouse primary. He will be the
Republican candidate going against Democrat Kathleen Murphy in the Jan. 6
special election.

The election is being held to fill the House of Delegates seat currently held by
Congresswoman-elect Barbara Comstock.

Parisot and Johnson competed in the firehouse primary at Colvin Run Elementary
School. Both described themselves as entrepreneurs and Republican activists.

The canvass opened at 10 a.m. and ended at 2 p.m. for voters living in the 34th
District, which stretches from the Chain Bridge and Langley to Wolf Trap and
includes Great Falls, Seneca and Potomac Falls.

All voters who live in the district were eligible to vote in the Republican
canvass as long as they are “in accord with the principles of the Republican
Party and … if requested, express in open meeting either orally or in writing
as may be required, their intent to support all of its nominees for public
office in the 2015 Special Election.”

Democrats had planned to hold a caucus Saturday as well, but they cancelled it
after only one candidate filed to run.

Democrat Kathleen Murphy will face the winner of the Republican primary in the
Jan. 6 special election.

Murphy lost to Comstock in last year’s race for the same seat by just 422 votes,
1.4 percent of the total number of ballots cast.

Comstock is resigning from the House of Delegates on Jan. 2 to begin her term
representing Virginia’s 10th Congressional District on Capitol Hill.

She beat Democrat John Foust in the race to replace retiring
Republican Congressman Frank Wolf.

Republicans currently control the Virginia House of Delegates by a 67-32 margin.

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