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In a hotly contested Democratic primary for the 84th district, Kim Melnyk, a Virginia Beach school board member, beat out a former substitute teacher by about a five-point margin, according to unofficial tallies Tuesday night.
The election is expected to be one of the most competitive this fall and could help determine which party controls the General Assembly, as Democrats battle to keep their narrow majority of the state legislature.
Melnyk, a former Republican who recently flipped parties, is now set to face off this fall with Republican incumbent Glenn Davis, who fell short in his bid this year for his party’s lieutenant governor nomination. In the 84th district, he beat Democrat challenger Karen Mallard by less than three percentage points in 2019.
“I feel great. We worked hard, and I’m just trying to take it all in,” Melnyk said Tuesday night. “Now I have to get to work and do what the people elected me to do tonight. That’s to flip the 84th district. We’re ready for a change.”
In the neighboring 89th district, incumbent Jay Jones beat out newcomer Hannah Kinder by a roughly 56-point margin for the Democratic nomination. Jones also was on the ballot for Democrat’s Attorney General nomination, though he fell short to incumbent Mark Herring in that race.
In the 89th district, Jones earned 4,607 votes compared to 1,293 for Kinder, who works for a California-based nonprofit that advocates against factory farms. Jones is a partner at law firm Bischoff Martingayle and comes from a family of civil rights leaders.
Jones will be on the ballot this fall against with Republican Hahns Copeland to represent the 89th district, which is considered a Democratic stronghold.
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The race for the Democrat nomination in the 84th was a heated primary, with Tracie Liguid, the former teacher, repeatedly hammering Melnyk for her longtime Republican track record. Liguid previously called Melnyk’s party flip a “cynical, political maneuver.”
But following four years under former President Donald Trump, Melnyk maintained that there was nothing surprising about her decision to switch parties.
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That issue became a sticking point for many progressives, who said that Melnyk’s bid for the nomination risked pushing out Liguid, a Filipino American, in a diverse district. Ultimately, Melnyk scored 1,876 votes, compared to Liguid’s 1,691, according to unofficial tallies Tuesday night.
“I think that this party will unify,” Melnyk said. “I think they understand the bigger picture, and that bigger picture is unseating Glenn Davis.”
In a statement late Tuesday night, Liguid said she ran because she thinks “we need more diverse voices in government and because I think Virginia Beach needs a Delegate focused on serving all the people in our community.” She congratulated Melnyk on her victory.
“I am committed to helping Kim Melnyk beat Glenn Davis this November, so Virginia Beach can have the representation it needs and deserves,” she said in the statement.
If elected this fall, Melnyk said she would focus on making healthcare more affordable, helping the state recover from the coronavirus pandemic and to boost more funding in public education, including raising teacher pay.
“I’m education, education, education,” she said.
Peter Coutu, 757-222-5124, peter.coutu@pilotonline.com