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Some Democrats in the House of Delegates are looking to elect new leadership immediately with a vote on a new leader, caucus chair, and vice caucus chair this Wednesday.
Del. Don Scott (D) sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues in the House Sunday evening calling for new caucus elections on Wednesday prior to the convening of the General Assembly for the veto session.
Citing the bylaws of the House Demcratic caucus that says officers may be removed by a vote of a majority of caucus members if they are provided reasonable notice, Scott called for the removal of leader, caucus chair, and vice-chair for outreach.
Currently, former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn serves as leader, Del. Charniele Herring serves as caucus chair, and Scott serves as vice-chair for outreach. He resigned from that role in the email so that he can run for leader.
In addition to nominating himself as leader, Scott nominated Del. Sally Hudson (D-Charlottesville) for caucus chair and Del. Dan Helmer for vice-chair of outreach if his colleagues do vote to remove the current members.
Scott declined to comment for this story until Wednesday afternoon, he says. Filler-Corn’s office also did not provide any immediate comment for this story. A spokesperson for the House Democrats did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
There are 48 Democrats in the House meaning they would need 25 members of the caucus to agree to a vote for new leadership. The voting would be with secret ballots. According to sources with knowledge, a vote is expected to happen on Wednesday after House Democrats held a conference call Sunday night.
Several House Democrats did not respond to requests for comment in this story on Sunday.
This is still a developing situation. The letter from Scott is below:
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