The 5 p.m. deadline to submit signatures to make it on the gubernatorial ballot came and went Thursday, and it is still unclear if there will be a Republican primary for the gubernatorial nomination.
Former Del. Dave LaRock announced before the 4 p.m. Thursday that he failed to secure the 10,000 signatures required to make the June Republican gubernatorial primary ballot. In his statement, he partly blamed Gov. Glenn Youngkin for endorsing Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears as the reason he could not gain any traction.
“The current Governor jumping in early to designate his successor did not make it easy for us to give the Republican voters a real choice in the primary — but we came close,” LaRock wrote.
Former state Sen. Amanda Chase turned in signatures minutes before the deadline but did not indicate if she turned in enough to make the ballot. In addition to needing 10,000 signatures total, 400 have to come from each congressional district.
Chase claimed victory in her newsletter, but not once did she claim she met the requirements.
Virginia Scope asked Chase multiple times Thursday evening if she had reached the 10,000 threshold, and she responded without directly answering the question.
RPV staff told Virginia Scope that they will receive the signature boxes from the Department of Elections on Friday to begin the verification process.
If the party verifies all of Chase and Rutledge’s signatures and she meets the requirements, they will be on the ballot in June for the Republican gubernatorial primary.
On the other side of the aisle, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the lone candidate for governor – making her the nominee in the November general election.
Six candidates made the Democratic ballot for lieutenant governor, according to an announcement from the party.
Alex Bastani, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, Victor Salgado and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
The Republican Party of Virginia has already verified Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity’s signatures for lieutenant governor. John Reid and John Curran’s campaigns say they turned in signatures, but RPV has not announced their verification yet.
For attorney general, DPVA announced that Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor and former Norfolk Del. Jay Jones will compete in the June primary for the nomination.
Attorney Jason Miyares will be the Republican nominee, as he does not have a primary challenger.