RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Virginia Democratic House Caucus voted to remove former speaker Eileen Filler-Corn as its leader Wednesday without picking a new one.
Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) led a push to remove Del. Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) as the Democratic leader in the Virginia House of Delegates and Del. Charniele L. Herring (Alexandria) as caucus chairwoman.
The caucus voted through a secret ballot to remove Filler-Corn as its party leader on Wednesday but voted to keep Del. Herring as caucus chair.
“I thank the people of Virginia and my colleagues in the House of Delegates for allowing me to serve as the first woman and first person of Jewish faith to serve as Speaker in the 403-year history of our Commonwealth – truly the honor of my life,” Filler-Corn said in a statement.
The leadership change comes after House Republicans won a majority in the 100-member chamber last November and wielded that power during the regular 2022 General Assembly session to reject several Democratic-backed proposals.
“I was proud of all that we accomplished after taking the majority in 2019 and was willing to step up as Minority Leader once more to regain that majority. Our caucus is made up of 48 talented and diverse individuals and I look forward to working with them to retake the majority,” Filler-Corn continued.
In a letter to party leaders, Del. Scott nominated himself to replace Filler-Corn as caucus leader and called for a vote on the leadership change during a meeting ahead of the legislature’s “veto session” on Wednesday.
A new leader was not selected during the morning meeting, but Del. Scott reiterated his desire to fill the role. In a press release after the meeting, Scott said Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republicans are moving Virginia “backwards.”
“We need a leader who can win – not just on the House Floor, but in elections in every corner of the Commonwealth,” he said in the release. “As Leader, I will fight every day to retake the majority and stop the reckless Youngkin agenda.”
