Rip Sullivan To Seek Re-Election In VA's New 6th District; Kathleen Murphy To Retire

MCLEAN, VA — Virginia Del. Rip Sullivan will be seeking re-election to the newly drawn 6th House district, where both he and Del. Kathleen Murphy live.

With both lawmakers placed in the same district after the redistricting process, Murphy, who represents the 34th district, announced Friday that she will not seek re-election. Both Sullivan, who represents the 48th district, and Murphy are Democrats.

Murphy, who was first elected to the seat in 2015, said Friday that she plans to retire because she needs to care for her grandchildren after the death of her daughter in 2022, InsideNoVA reported.

The new 6th district stretches from McLean through Great Falls to the Loudoun County border. The district leans Democratic, with 60 percent of its voters having supported former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the 2021 gubernatorial election, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

“I have been representing a large part of the 6th district — half of McLean — for nine years, and look forward to representing the rest of the new district," Sullivan, who was first elected to his seat in 2014, said in a news release Friday. "Of course, I have lived in McLean for nearly 50 years, so McLean, Great Falls, and the other new parts of the district have long been home to me."

Sullivan and his wife Beth are Langley High School graduates. Their four children graduated from Fairfax County public schools. Sullivan is also the grandfather of four.

“I am proud to have served McLean alongside my friend Delegate Kathleen Murphy, who has announced she will not be seeking re-election,” Sullivan said. “She has served in the House of Delegates with great distinction, tenacity, civility, class, and grace.”

Prior to being elected to the House of Delegates in 2014, Sullivan, a lawyer, served on the Fairfax Consumer Protection Commission and the Fairfax Transportation Advisory Commission and chaired the Dranesville Budget Task Force.

As a delegate, Sullivan was the author and House patron of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, Virginia's Red Flag Law and "Jacob's Law."

Sullivan, who received his law degree from the University of Virginia, is a partner in the law firm Bean Kinney & Korman P.C. in Arlington.