(The Center Square) — Veteran Virginia Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg, has announced he will be retiring come the end of his current term in January after receiving a diagnosis of kidney cancer in October.
“Having recently been diagnosed with cancer, and entering into an aggressive and ongoing treatment regimen, I have concluded I may not be able to devote 100% of my focus to doing the work needed in the General Assembly. Consequently, I believe now is the right time to retire,” Ruff said in a statement.
Ruff will have served 30 years in the General Assembly, entering office as a delegate in 1994, elected to the state senate in 2000 and reelected ever since — including in the most recent general election, which occurred just last month.
In his statement, he mentioned several points of pride for him in his career, namely the economic development of Southern Virginia and the enhancement of Virginia community colleges. Ruff was part of the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and the Center for Rural Virginia, a sponsor of the legislation that created the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, and a member of the commission that approved plans to build a $2 billion entertainment district in Northern Virginia.
“It has been the honor of my life to represent and serve the people of our communities. Whether on the Mecklenburg Board of Supervisors, in the House of Delegates, or in the Senate of Virginia, I believed public service was always about finding good policy solutions that improved the lives of those we represent. That was my goal every day in Richmond,” Ruff said.
Ruff is retiring when senators with his expertise are relatively lacking in the state senate. Redistricting in 2021 shuffled seats, pitting some longtime incumbents against each other for November’s election and causing a surge of retirements.
With ten senators who announced their retirement in early 2023 and did not seek reelection, two special elections in early 2023, five incumbents who lost their seats to challengers in the June primaries, two who were defeated last month, two special elections and now Ruff’s retirement, half of the Senate’s 40 members aren’t returning.
Since Friday, six Republicans have announced they’re running for Ruff’s seat in the special election on Jan. 9: Outgoing Del. James Edmunds; Danville City Council member Lee Vogler; Clarksville Town Council member Tammy Brankley Mulchi, Ruff’s former aide who has his endorsement; House of Delegates legislative aide Kade Gravitt; Halifax small businessman Andy Ferguson; and congressional aide Dale Sturdifen of Clarksville.
