Lamont Bagby viewed as favorite in Tuesday’s special Senate election

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Henrico Democratic Delegate Lamont Bagby is poised to become the newest state senator from the Richmond area. Next Tuesday, March 28, Richmond-area voters in the state 9th Senate District will choose a successor to now 4th District U.S. Congresswoman Jennifer L. McClellan in a special election to fill the final year of her General Assembly term. Election observers list Delegate Bagby, who also chairs the General Assembly’s influential Legislative Black Caucus, as the overwhelming favorite in his contest with his little-known and almost unnoticed Republican rival, Stephen J. “Steve” Imholt, in the balloting.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the district that comprises most of Richmond north of the James River, a portion of Henrico and Hanover counties, including Ashland, and Charles City County.

A win for Delegate Bagby would give him a leg up in the

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Thanks to Helen Virginia Epps Harris, Henrico County annually celebrates the holiday in honor of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and also has dramatically increased its hiring of Black employees.

Her impact on public policy is just part of the influence she wielded during a life that her family said was devoted to service to others and fueled by a desire to see Black people advance and thrive.

Mrs. Harris’ multiple contributions to community betterment are being remembered following her death on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at age 83.

Family and friends packed St. Peter Baptist Church in Glen Allen on Wednesday, March 22, to offer final tributes to the Richmond native who impacted lives of untold youths and adults during her three decades as a business teacher at Armstrong High School, as a Girl Scout leader and as a churchwoman.

While she never held or sought elective office, Mrs. Harris’ sweet and kind equitable place,” Fairfield District Supervisor Frank J. Thornton and County Manager John Vithoulkas wrote in a joint letter to the family. a junior at Midlothian High School, left, and James Rioux 16, a junior at Clover Hill High School in Midlothian listen to a speaker Saturday, March 18, during the inaugural Teen Summit RVA at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. disposition masked a steely determination and unyielding persistence on public policy issues.

A member of the civil rights generation, she became active in county political affairs after joining the Henrico Civic League.

County officials experienced that determination as she pushed for change in the county’s treatment of its growing Black population.

“Her leadership and tireless advocacy made the county a more inclusive and

Rising to become the league’s first female president while also serving as volunteer coordinator of the Henrico County Leaders group, she is credited with directing the charge to get the balky county and its school system to recognize and close for the King holiday that was created at the federal level in 1983.

Refusing to accept that Black people could not be elected to county offices, she led the Civic League into becoming a plaintiff in a major voting rights