by Ashleigh Crocker
Senator Joe Morrissey has got to go! It took me forever to write this blog because narrowing it down to just 5 things I hate about Joe. You might know of the Senator because he is an anti-abortion Democrat. Or maybe you heard about him because he has been disbarred more than once for assaulting people, but still goes around calling himself “Fightin’ Joe.” Let’s get into all the gory details, in no particular order because they’re all really bad.
Joe Morrissey, at age 56, had sex with his 17-year-old secretary and impregnated her.
In 2013, Morrissey began a sexual relationship with his 17-year-old law office secretary and impregnated her. Though they at first denied the relationship, months later, Morrissey admitted to being the father of her child and in court documents there are text messages from Morrissey to friends bragging about it.
After the allegations and a court case where he plead guilty to charges including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession and distribution of child pornography, Morrissey was forced to resign his seat in the House of Delegates at the time. But instead of hanging his head in shame, he immediately filed to run in the special election to fill his seat and won. The man managed to serve his jail sentence while getting work release to go to the General Assembly and vote on laws.
As an aside, when finally admitting that he fathered the child and had the relationship, Morrissey released this horrifying picture (which I refuse to include here but seems like a relevant detail). There’s a lot to unpack there. Yikes.
Joe Morrissey has served jail time for assault!
Yep, all told, Joe Morrissey has been held in contempt of court 10 times and been arrested or served time in jail 5 times. One of the instances was in 1991, when he was served as the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Richmond. Morrissey bragged about it in the Washington Post, saying he “punched [the] lights out” of defense attorney David Baugh and that “he had to be taught some manners.” Since the incident, Joe has referred to himself as “Fightin’ Joe.” I don’t know about you, but I’m not really interested in a state senator who regularly serves jail time for assault and then brags about it.
^^Not appropriate for the Virginia Senate^^
Joe Morrissey has been disbarred, not once, but twice.
The first time Morrissey was disbarred was in 2001, after he was accused of trying to bribe his way out of his court-ordered community service and then lied about it. In 2012, Morrissey managed to get the Supreme Court of Virginia to reinstate his membership to the bar on a vote of 4-3, even though the Bar Disciplinary Board unanimously recommended against it.
They were proven correct because Morrissey was disbarred AGAIN in 2018 after a series of complaints against him, including his guilty plea stemming from having sex with a minor. He’s trying to get reinstated again, but, so far, has been unsuccessful. Let’s hope it stays that way!
Morrissey has cheated on his wife, abandoned his kids, and falsely accused her of child abuse.
So after the business in 2013 with the sexual misconduct and statutory rape, Morrissey ended up marrying the woman and fathering several more children with her. But earlier this year, Myrna Morrissey finally spoke out against Joe. In an Instagram post, she detailed his numerous affairs and claims that he gave her an STI while she was pregnant with his child. And she had the receipts!
In response to Myrna’s accusations, Joe turned around and accused her of abusing their children and tried to have the kids taken away from her. But a judge later found no evidence whatsoever of child abuse. It’s clear that Joe was just lashing out after being called out publicly.
Joe has put his wife and kids through the ringer, and I just hope that they are able to escape his abuse and get the support they need during this difficult time.
It’s clear that Joe Morrissey is absolutely not the type of man I want representing me in the Virginia Senate. He has bad judgment and obviously cannot be trusted.
Personal issues aside, Morrissey is bad on policy too!
Despite his numerous (and I mean NUMEROUS, cutting this down was tough) personal issues, Joe Morrissey isn’t fit to be a State Senator because he is also bad on policy. He is anti-abortion, which is bad enough. But he also voted to take away funding for financial aid for immigrant communities and give it to HBCUs instead. We had the money to fund both, and pitting marginalized communities against each other like this is just gross.
We can do so much better than this. And the good news is that we have the opportunity to vote Joe Morrissey out of office once and for all! Lashrecse Aird is running against Morrissey in the primary. And she’s not just the best of two not-great options, but she is actually a progressive champion who would be an absolute dream as a Senator.
So when the primary comes around on June 20th, I hope you will join me in supporting her. And be on the lookout for my next blog, 5 Things I Love About Lachrecse Aird!