Steve Burns
WMAL.com
RICHMOND (WMAL) – The Virginia General Assembly’s Special Session on Monday came and went with both issues lawmakers were tasked with resolving still up in the air.
The Senate voted to declare itself deadlocked on redistricting, and did not find a majority to nominate a Virginia Supreme Court Justice.
“We’re at an impasse, and I think it’s fair to say nobody quite knows where it’s going to go,” State Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) told WMAL. “There’s not going to be a candidate nominated so, as I understand, the interim appointment will go away after 30 days.”
The Governor can continue renewing his interim appointment every 30 days.
“The Governor can re-appoint her, or meet with the Republicans and try and find an alternative candidate,” Petersen said. “Or when we go back in January, we can vote one of those two or vote someone else. Nothing got solved (Monday).”
Voting in the Senate to nominate the Republicans’ choice of Judge Rossie Alston Jr. was deadlocked at 20-20 until Lt. Governor Ralph Northam cast a vote of dissent.
In a written statement, the Republican leadership accused the Democrats of running and hiding.
“Not only is this attempt to adjourn blatantly hypocritical and deeply irresponsible, it also directly defies both a federal court ruling and the Governor. Democrats have single-handedly shutdown any possibility of a legislative remedy on redistricting and have no one to blame but themselves,” the statement read.
But Petersen is trying to take a pragmatic view.
“I should probably start bashing the other side and saying how obstructionist they’re being, but in reality, anytime you have a chamber that’s closely matched, and the two sides are in disagreement, oftentimes it’s going to take some time to work out,” Petersen said. “They need to sit down with the Governor and just knock this out. That’s what it’s going to take. You need to sit down with the leaders and make a decision.”
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