GOP to hold firehouse primaries for both open Senate seats

Happy Thanksgiving, Virginia politicos!

For those of you looking for a brief break from your turkey, here's a bit of news out of the 37th Senate District, home to an upcoming special election to fill the seat soon to be vacated by Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli.

Republicans will be nominating a candidate for the post on Tuesday, and we've got the skinny on how the process will run. The party is organizing a firehouse primary to choose between former George Bush appointee Marianne Horinko, former Fairfax school board member Steve Hunt and Greenspring Retirement Community Executive Director Will Nance.

Any registered voter who lives in the 37th District can participate, but all voters will be asked to sign a pledge indicating their intent to support the Republican candidate in the general election for the seat. Voting will take place at a single polling place at Centreville High School from 6 to 10 p.m.

The winner will face Democratic Del. David Marsden in the general election, which a spokesman for Gov. Tim Kaine has said he intends to hold Jan. 12.

Spokesman Gordon Hickey said Kaine would also like to hold the state's other special Senate election, to determine a replacement for newly elected Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle in the 8th District, on that same day. But no final decisions can be made until Stolle formally submits a letter indicating the date he will retire from the state Senate; he will be sworn in as sheriff Jan. 1.

Leading Democrats have said they do not plan to nominate a candidate to run in that election, however, so the main event will be the Republican's firehouse primary between Jeff McWaters and Rosemary Wilson. Voting for that election will be conducted at five polling places from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 5. Both candidates have more details about polling locations on their Web site.