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School Board chairman eyes run for House of Delegates

12/9/2016, 8:06 p.m.
Jeff M. Bourne just won a second term on the Richmond School Board. But his tenure might turn out to ...

Jeff M. Bourne just won a second term on the Richmond School Board. But his tenure might turn out to be far shorter than four years.

The 40-year-old deputy Virginia attorney general who represents the 3rd District on the board has confirmed he is eyeing a run for a seat in the House of Delegates that could soon be vacant.

That vacancy would be created if, as anticipated, Richmond Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan succeeds in her bid to win the vacant 9th District state Senate seat in a special election set for Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Sen. A. Donald McEachin is leaving that seat to go to Washington as the new representative for Virginia’s 4th Congressional District.

Delegate McClellan’s prospects to win the seat became even brighter after she secured the Democratic Party nomination last week without opposition in a district that favors Democrats. The 9th Senate District includes Charles City County and parts of Richmond and Hanover and Henrico counties.

Her only opponent is expected to be a member of the Libertarian Party, Corey M. Fauconier, who is the only other person to file paperwork to run.

Mr. Bourne is chairman of the School Board and he is the only member from the current board who won re-election in the Nov. 8 election.

Just one of the eight new members who will take office with Mr. Bourne in early January has School Board experience. That person is Dawn C. Page, who has regained the 8th District seat she gave up four years ago to make a unsuccessful bid for the district’s City Council seat.

Mr. Bourne is the first person to publicly indicate an interest in running for the House of Delegates seat, which mostly covers the North Side and East End of Richmond and includes a small part of Henrico County.

“I haven’t made a decision,” he said, but he acknowledged he is intrigued by the prospect of serving as an education advocate in the General Assembly.

The names of other potential candidates are circulating, but most are waiting until after the holidays to consider getting in the race. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS