Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2023 Virginia's 7th Senate district special election


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus  to delete and none appears likely to emerge, coupled with sock disruption. A merger discussion can take place on the talk page, and if necessary an established editor can bring this to AfD. Star  Mississippi  15:51, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

2023 Virginia's 7th Senate district special election

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

This page should be deleted because per precedent articles about state legislative elections are not Notable enough to justify an article. Most of this information should be moved to Virginia's 7th Senate district DHSchool2003Student (talk) 19:22, 12 January 2023 (UTC) (sock strike Liz Read! Talk! 03:28, 27 January 2023 (UTC))
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politics-related deletion discussions. DHSchool2003Student (talk) 19:24, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Events and Virginia.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 19:33, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Don't have a strong opinion on deleting vs merging but want to point out that the proper merge target would be 2023 Virginia elections (though some of the content would be best suited for the article on the district itself). Elli (talk &#124; contribs) 19:49, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. DHSchool2003Student (talk) 20:12, 12 January 2023 (UTC)


 * I put my response here: Talk:2023 Virginia's 7th Senate district special election#Notability Talleyrand6 (talk) 20:02, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * You should also put your response to deletion on this page, optionally along with, in bold, your recommendation on what to do with the page. (e.g. keep, delete, merge, redirect, move, etc.) DHSchool2003Student (talk) 21:42, 12 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep: First of all, I must say that I am a little disappointed that this was nominated for deletion. I understand that this article may not meet certain notability qualifications that would usually justify such an article. This is, as you said, merely a special election. However, I am using the highly detailed and exceptionally well-written work done by User:Daniel Case in his article about a 2017 Delaware State Senate special election as a precedent for what I am doing here. So much so that I copied the ordering of his table of contents as the framework for my own article. My article is obviously incomplete, but I am going to put in the work to make this a well-researched and informative article. On the topic of notability, again, I understand that special elections don't often get their own pages, but I would like you to consider the opening words of the Washington Post article, which I cite at the beginning of my own article. "What could have been a sleepy special election for a single legislative seat in Virginia Beach has instead drawn heaps of money and national attention — in large part because of abortion. " I would argue that the implications of this election on both the state and national merit notability far outside the confines of the results themselves. If this election merited national press coverage, donations from across the state, the involvement of various state and local politicians, including the governor himself, and extensive discourse online, I would suggest that this article does, in fact, meet the general notability guidelines. More so than other pages that I have read. I am a local of the Hampton Roads area, and I'm well invested in the political developments here. I'm writing this article to provide insight into local politics that you would otherwise miss. I include reliable sources, and I have thus far avoided original research.Talleyrand6 (talk) 00:24, 13 January 2023 (UTC)


 * My issue with the reference to the Delaware article is that in that case, there was signifigant media coverage, while there was little to no such coverage here. DHSchool2003Student (talk) 02:06, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * WDYM by 'media coverage'? Talleyrand6 (talk) 02:17, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * I mean, per WP:Notability (events) the event is likely notable if it "has enduring historical significance and meets the general notability guideline or if they have a lasting effect" both of which are extremely questionable for this article. The policy also states that, and this is the key bit, the event is "very likely to be notable if it has widespread (national or international)", which this article does not satisfy. In addition, the policy states, "Routine kinds of news events (including most crimes, accidents, deaths, celebrity or political news, "shock" news, stories lacking lasting value such as "water cooler stories," and viral phenomena) – whether or not tragic or widely reported at the time – are usually not notable unless something further gives them additional enduring significance." All of these things together seem to state that this article is not notable. Per precedent, unless a state legislative election is huge and widely reported by national news, it is not notable. I am not proposing the deletion of this content, I am simply proposing it for moving to 2023 Virginia elections and Virginia's 7th Senate district because that is the general precedent for minor special elections. The map can also be moved to 2023 Virginia elections. DHSchool2003Student (talk) 15:18, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * See also WP:NOT and WP:NOTE. DHSchool2003Student (talk) 15:19, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

*Move/Redirect/Merge to 2023 Virginia elections and Virginia's 7th Senate district for reasons that I listed before. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DHSchool2003Student (talk • contribs) 20:46, 12 January 2023 (UTC)  WP:SOCKSTRIKE Linguist111 (talk) 19:41, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Liz Read! Talk! 19:46, 19 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Move/Redirect/Merge to 2023 Virginia elections and Virginia's 7th Senate district non notable election with campaign that only lasted for a few months. Putitonamap98 (talk) 00:29, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Merge to 2023_Virginia_elections in the section already there. I found only one national article that mentions the race winner: Washington Post. Much of what is in the article here seems to be original research, such as the voting demographic information. To be included, that info would need not only to be sourced but presumably sourced in relation to this race. The article is a good piece of research, but I'm afraid it doesn't follow WP policies for includable content. Lamona (talk) 18:25, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Merge to 2023_Virginia_elections per rationale of Lamona in comments above. Sal2100 (talk) 18:40, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

Relisting comment: Talleyrand6's original comment currently sits in a position where it's been somewhat refuted by the subsequent discussion, and therefore the keep !votes that tag onto it are not as strong as they may otherwise be. Relisting for further input regarding Notability (events). Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Daniel (talk) 02:47, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per Talleyrand6. —- Politicsfan4 (talk) 19:59, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per Talleyrand6, as seconded by Politicsfan4. This special election received considerable attention in the media, as evidenced by the 17 inline cites appended to the article. The article contains elaborate background detail as well as charts, maps and voting analysis supported by those citations, all of which sheds light on the politics of abortion which were so prominent here. Also, this article is extremely useful for those researching American campaigning. —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 02:31, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Just noting that the nominator is a sockpuppet. Liz Read! Talk! 03:28, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Bit rude Talleyrand6 (talk) 17:00, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * OOOOOOH I'm dumb, sorry. I thought you were calling me a sockpuppet. Talleyrand6 (talk) 17:22, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * See WP:SOCKPUPPET for what that means on Wikipedia. &#8212;CX Zoom[he/him] (let's talk • {C•X}) 17:24, 1 February 2023 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.