VA-LG: John Curran (R) relaunches LG bid as write-in, alleging signature sabotage
John Curran, the former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who said internal sabotage cost him a spot on the primary ballot, announced Monday he is re-entering the race — this time as a GOP-aligned write-in.
“Today, I am announcing my WRITE-IN campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia as a Republican,” Curran said in a statement. “My decision is not to split the ticket but to save it.”
Curran’s announcement reignites tensions in an already turbulent race following his exit in April, when he failed to qualify for the ballot despite claiming to have far surpassed the 10,000-signature requirement.
“Unfortunately, a person(s) associated with my campaign conspired to steal most of my signatures and then attempted to extort money for them,” Curran wrote in a Facebook post after the filing deadline passed. “Disappointingly, the Virginia Department of Elections and the Republican Party of Virginia did nothing to correct this wrong.”
Mark Peake, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, dismissed Curran’s write-in bid as entirely unofficial, distancing the party from his campaign.
https://virginiamercury.com/2025/05/12/john-curran-relaunches-lg-bid-as-write-in-alleging-signature-sabotage/