Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Dan Gecker
Dan Gecker was a 2015 Democratic candidate for District 10 of the Virginia State Senate.[1]
Campaign themes
2015
Gecker's website highlighted the following campaign themes:
| “ |
Working for Women Creating Equal Access to Healthcare Keeping Our Community Safe Strengthening Our Region's Economy Quality Education for All Good Government and Transparency |
” |
Elections
2015
- See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2015
Elections for the Virginia State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 9, 2015. The general election took place on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 26, 2015.[4] Daniel Gecker defeated Emily Francis and Alex McMurtrie in the Democratic primary.[5] Glen Sturtevant was unopposed in the Republican primary.[6] Carl Loser (Libertarian) and Marleen Durfee (Independent) ran as third party candidates. Sturtevant defeated Gecker, Durfee and Loser in the general election.[7]
Race snapshot
Gecker and Sturtevant served on the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and the Richmond School Board, respectively. They sought to succeed outgoing incumbent John Watkins (R) in a race that analysts consider a tossup.[8] Both candidates were considered to have bipartisan appeal, and Watkins was known for going against his party on occasion.[9][10] District 10 was considered a swing district due to its inclusion of respective Democratic and Republican strongholds in urban Richmond and rural Powhatan, and a Republican lean in parts of suburban Chesterfield. Through September 2015, Sturtevant raised $772,000, while Gecker raised $1.2 million.[11]
Following the August on-air shooting death of Roanoke television journalist Alison Parker and her cameraman, Adam Ward, a national gun control advocacy group sought to spend $700,000 in advertising in the open District 10 race in October. On October 21, television stations began airing "Condolences," a 30-second spot by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and featuring Parker's father, Andy. The group targeted Republican Glen Sturtevant, who in comparison raised about $56,000 from the National Rifle Association and $772,000 in total. According to Robert Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University, "For one group to put $700,000 into one-issue ads has to be unprecedented in state Senate races, particularly for a group from outside Virginia."[12] The group said at least $370,000 would be spent on broadcast television before spending on cable, radio and digital advertising.[13]
Sturtevant replied with his own advertisement, which referred to Bloomberg by name and expressed "support [for] zero tolerance for gun violence." A campaign press release said that the advertisement demonstrated "how dependent the desperate campaign of Democrat Dan Gecker now is on massive spending from an out-of-state billionaire."[14]
| Virginia State Senate, District 10 General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Glen Sturtevant |
49.8% | 27,651 | |
| Democratic | Dan Gecker | 47.2% | 26,173 | |
| Independent | Marleen Durfee | 2% | 1,136 | |
| Libertarian | Carl Loser | 0.9% | 527 | |
| Total Votes | 55,487 | |||
| Virginia State Senate, District 10 Democratic Primary, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|
Emily Francis |
34.3% | 3,487 |
| Alex McMurtrie | 19.2% | 1,957 |
| Daniel Gecker |
46.5% | 4,730 |
| Total Votes | 10,174 | |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Dan Gecker Virginia Senate. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Virginia State Legislature
- Virginia State Senate
- Virginia Senate Committees
- Virginia state legislative districts
External links
- Official campaign website
- Dan Gecker on Facebook
- Dan Gecker on Twitter
- Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Virginia General Assembly
Footnotes
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Virginia General Assembly Candidate Filings," accessed April 23, 2015
- ↑ Dan Gecker for Senate, "Issues," accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Democratic Primary," accessed October 20, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Republican Primary," accessed October 20, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed August 21, 2015
- ↑ WRIC, "Virginia Senate hopefuls get cash from party groups," October 16, 2015
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Schapiro: Odds lengthening on Democratic take-back of Va. Senate?" October 10, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia’s hopes hang on two Senate races," October 19, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "McAuliffe’s hopes hang on the outcome of two Virginia state Senate races," October 18, 2015
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Gun-safety group backed by Michael Bloomberg targets Sturtevant in $700,000 ad buy," October 21, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Bloomberg gun-safety group bankrolls $700K ad buy in critical Va. Senate race," October 21, 2015
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Sturtevant launches gun-focused TV ad to counter Bloomberg group," October 23, 2015
