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Loudoun Co. man accused of threatening Virginia state delegate’s life

By Thomas Robertson
Ciara Wells

A Purcellville, Virginia, man has been charged with threatening to kill state Del. Geary Higgins. Higgins, a Republican, represents Virginia’s 30th House District in the General Assembly, which covers parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties. Patrick Daniel Murphy, 68, is charged with threatening to kill Geary via text message. Fauquier Now first reported that, according to Higgins’ office, the Aug. 26 message read, “F— off Geary. I will shoot u @ yer next public rally. Then send you memes with the photos. I know where your f—in kids are too.” In an arrest warrant obtained by WTOP, Murphy received a text message by Higgins’ campaign “about a political topic,” to which he responded with the threat to shoot Higgins and his family members.

“Let me be clear: threats of violence have no place in our political discourse. I will not be intimidated, silenced, or deterred from doing the job I was elected to do — fighting for my constituents in Western Loudoun and Fauquier, and standing up for common sense,” Higgins said in a statement. Murphy was charged with a threat in writing, a Class 6 felony which is punishable of up to five years in prison. “Unfortunately, this is the direct result of the nasty lies and constant demonization from the radical left that we’ve seen over the last few years. Abigail Spanberger is telling her supporters to ‘let their rage fuel them,’ and my opponent is up on TV right now calling me a crook and a treasonist, and blatantly lying about my record,” Higgins said in a statement. “The last two sessions in Richmond we’ve been called every name under the sun.” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin added in a post on social media, “Two Republican Delegates received death threats just this past week. It must stop. Enough.” He was referring to Virginia state Del. Kim Taylor, of Petersburg, who received a death threat over text on Thursday. Higgins is facing a challenge from Democrat John McAuliff in November’s election. The threat came not long after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in Utah. Murphy is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 20. WTOP’s Jimmy Alexander contributed to this report.

US House campaigns are underway. Yet a redistricting battle triggered by Trump rages in some states

By The Associated Press
Candidates are campaigning and voting is underway in some primaries. Yet a national battle to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage is still raging in some states ahead of the November midterm elections. Voters in Texas and North Carolina already have cast ballots in primary elections for U.S. House districts redrawn at President Donald Trump's urging. But the final boundaries for voting districts remain uncertain in Missouri, even though candidates already are filing for office. And they also are unclear in Virginia, where new congressional districts could hinge both on a voter referendum and court rulings. Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump triggered an unusual round of mid-decade redistricting when he urged Texas Republicans last summer to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterm elections. California Democrats reciprocated, and a tit-for-tat redistricting clash soon spread. So far, Republicans believe they could win nine additional seats in states where they have redrawn congressional districts, while Democrats think they could gain six seats elsewhere because of redistricting. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that's uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
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