The collective sigh of relief sweeping through the newly redrawn state 13th Senate District on Tuesday was palpable.

Unofficial voting results showed that Lashrecse D. Aird garnered 70 % of the votes, winning in all eight localities, including Petersburg, Hopewell and Henrico County that previously leaned toward Sen. Joe Morrissey.

“I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support,” Ms. Aird said in her victory address. “It is truly a testament to our community and to our Commonwealth that I am standing here on this stage.

Having formerly served three terms in the House of Delegates before losing her re-election bid in 2021, Ms. Aird’s comeback speaks to her determination and tenacity.

Groomed by Roslyn Dance, a former state senator, delegate and Petersburg mayor, Ms. Aird, who turns 37 on June 22, first ran for office in 2016. In winning, she became the youngest woman elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.

Her legislative accomplishments are admirable: Funding for education, advocating for environmental criminal justice reform, making history with the passage of the nation’s first Breonna’s Law (prohibiting the use of no-knock search warrants); housing reforms and a focus on healthcare to include medicaid expansion, and leading Virginia to become the first southern state to declare racism a public health crisis.

Although her campaign website makes no mention of abortion, Ms. Aird wooed voters with her public declarations of a woman’s right to choose. Mr. Morrisey took a more pro-life stance on abortion, and that alone was enough for voters to say no to Joe.

It also spared Ms. Aird from having to endure a knock- down, drag out fight with the senator who once billed himself as “Fighting Joe.” After ringing in the 2023 new year with a host of front-page stories that detailed his marital woes, the now dethroned Sen. Morrissey has suddenly decided that not winning may not be so bad after all.

Perhaps losing his senate race two days after Father’s Day suddenly makes being a dad not so bad.

“I’m moving on to my next chapter in my life,” the senator is quoted in today’s Free Press. “I want to be a full-time dad and coach, to all my kids. I cannot see running for office ever again.”

And to that we say, “Goodbye and good riddance.”