Senate District 18: Sen. Louise Lucas defeats Sen. Lionell Spruill in hotly contested primary

Sen. Louise Lucas defeated Sen. Lionell Spruill in Hampton Roads’ most fiercely contested primary Tuesday, securing the Democratic nomination in the race to represent District 18 in the Virginia Senate.

Lucas, who celebrated with a crowd of supporters at the Bide-A-Wee Pavilion in Portsmouth, entered the center dancing in a sparking blue dress.

“You will never regret sending me back for another four years,” she said, as the crowd cheered.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:43 p.m. Tuesday. Lucas had 9,464 votes, or 53% of the vote, compared to Spruill’s 8,370 votes with 96% of the votes counted.

Although the race was expected to be close, Lucas said she wasn’t nervous and has been having fun throughout her campaign.

“I just thank (my voters) for continuing to send me back time and time again, and I promise that I will continue to deliver for them,” she said.

Linwood Williams, who volunteered for her campaign, was among those celebrating at the pavilion.

“We are so excited,” he said. “We’ve been out in the community, doing what we could do. She deserves to be back in office.”

The race was the region’s only incumbent vs. incumbent primary, after other lawmakers chose to retire or even move to other districts to avoid similar matchups.

The recently redrawn 18th District encompasses parts of Portsmouth and Chesapeake.

With two longtime legislators facing off, the race quickly became one of the most watched — and one of the most expensive — in the state. Lucas and Spruill had raised roughly $1.4 million and $1.3 million, respectively, as of June 8, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

In the Democratic leaning district, Lucas will now face off against Republican candidate Tony Goodwin in the November General Election.

Lucas, 79, was first elected to the state Senate in 1992. Many longtime legislators opted not to seek reelection this year after redistricting placed some incumbents of the same party within the same boundary lines.

Lucas, however, previously said she couldn’t pass over the opportunity to lead the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, a powerful panel that spearheads the state’s budget negotiations. If reelected in November, Lucas would become the most senior committee member and take on the role of chair, which she said will be advantageous for Hampton Roads.

Lucas said she’s looking forward to her new role on the committee.

“I think a lot of people (in Hampton Roads) will be happy because they’ll feel that I’m looking out for their interest,” she said.

About 100 people attended her election night party at the pavilion.

About 12 miles away in Chesapeake, Spruill gathered with about 100 of his supporters at the Greenbrier Country Club.

“Someone had to win and someone had to lose,” Spruill said.

The defeat marks the end of Spruill’s time in public office. He said Tuesday night he has no plans to run for office again, but he said he hopes to continue to support Democrats. He said Democrats need to take control of the House and Senate, and “that’s our job now.”

Throughout her campaign, Lucas played up her image as a fighter who isn’t afraid to push back against Republicans.

She vowed to fiercely defend reproductive rights and push for a constitutional amendment to protect abortion access. She identified focusing on schools and expanding opportunities for career technical education as other top priorities.

Spruill, 76, was first elected to the state Senate in 2016. He began his political career in 1988 when he was elected to the Chesapeake City Council. He later served in the House of Delegates from 1994 to 2016.

He said Tuesday night he attempted to call Lucas twice to congratulate her but she did not answer.

“I feel like I let you down,” Spruill said to his supporters, though this was met with “no’s” and words of encouragement.

Like Lucas, Spruill previously said he never considered stepping aside. He explained the new district includes many of his current constituents or residents he represented during his time on the Chesapeake City Council. The new district includes about 71,000 voters from Spruill’s old district and 61,000 from Lucas’ former district, according to VPAP.

During his campaign, Spruill identified lowering taxes and protecting voting rights as some of his top priorities. The senator has been meeting with Gov. Glenn Youngkin in recent months to try and negotiate some changes to the governor’s new voting rights restoration policy, which has slowed down the restoration process.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com,

Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com