This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
Virginia Del. Kathleen Murphy of McLean announced Friday she will not run for re-election this fall after being placed into the same district as a fellow Democratic delegate.
Murphy’s decision makes her the third Northern Virginia member to announce this week that they will depart from the General Assembly at the end of the year. Long-time Del. Kenneth Plum of the Reston area and Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw of Fairfax both announced their retirements earlier this week.
Plum has served in the House of Delegates for 44 years, and Saslaw has been in the Senate for 42 years, with a prior four years in the House.
In her retirement announcement on the House floor Friday, Murphy, 75, cited the need to help care for her grandchildren following the death of her daughter last year.
“I’m proud of all the work that I’ve been able to do with all of you,” said Murphy, citing her record on gun control issues and women and military initiatives. “I am grateful to all of you for being kind and thoughtful and good friends.”
She was first elected to the House in a 2015 special election to fill the seat vacated when Republican Barbara Comstock won a seat in the House of Representatives. Murphy had come within a percentage point of ousting Comstock in the 2013 election. Murphy was reelected to her 34th District seat in 2017, 2019 and 2021. The district included McLean, Great Falls and parts of Vienna and Loudoun County.
However, the redistricting plan adopted by the Virginia Supreme Court in December 2021 placed her in the same district, the 6th, as Del. Rip Sullivan, also a Democrat.
Shortly after Murphy’s announcement, Sullivan issued a news release stating that he would run for re-election in that district in the fall. Sullivan has represented the 48th district since being elected in 2014. The new district stretches across northern Fairfax from McLean through Great Falls to the Loudoun County border.
“I have been representing a large part of the 6th district — half of McLean — for nine years, and look forward to representing the rest of the new district,” Sullivan said. “Of course, I have lived in McLean for nearly 50 years, so McLean, Great Falls, and the other new parts of the district have long been home to me.”
Sullivan praised Murphy for her service. “She has served in the House of Delegates with great distinction, tenacity, civility, class and grace. Kathleen has been a leader on issues impacting countless lives in Virginia. Her work with women veterans, and her tireless efforts to reduce gun violence, have been inspiring to witness.”
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the 6th District is heavily Democratic, with 60% of its voters having supported former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the 2021 gubernatorial election.
