History was made last November with the election of a record number of Black candidates to the Virginia General Assembly.

Of the 53 Black candidates who ran for legislative seats, a record 32 won, including 30 Democrats and two Republicans.

Among the highlights, Portsmouth Delegate Don L. Scott Jr. became the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Following his nomination by Democrat Luke Torian and a motion seconded by Republican Terry Austin, Speaker Scott, called it “an honor and privilege to be elected by my peers.”

“There’s something about being the first to do something,” Speaker Scott added. “I think about the folks that I look up to personally — who I still count as friends, who are brilliant. They are legislators, they are jurists, they are now colleagues and peers — and they have served in this body.

“And every time I look around this room, I see the ghosts of those people who worked here, who may have been enslaved here, whose dignity and humanity was discounted right here in this room. I see those people. I think about all of the people who never got their rights heard by people sitting in these seats centuries ago.”

In addition to Speaker Scott’s ascension, Democrats claimed full control of the statehouse after they flipped the House of Delegates in last year’s elections. When the current session of the legislature convened in January, a record 24 Black members assumed seats in the House — 23 Democrats and one Republican.

Several come from the Richmond area, including veteran Delegate Delores L. McQuinn and four newcomers, Rae C. Cousins and Michael J. Jones of Richmond, Debra D. Gardner of Chesterfield and Destiny Levere Bolling of Henrico.

In Hampton Roads, Democrat Michael B. Feggans upset Republican incumbent Karen S. Greenhalgh to win the 97th House District seat, while Democrat Nadarus E. Clark defeated Republican Michael Dillender to win the 84th House District seat.

In the Fredericksburg area, Democrat Joshua G. Cole defeated Republican Lee Peters to win the 65th House District seat.

In addition, a record eight Black senators were seated in the 40-member chamber — seven Democrats and one Republican. The Republican is J.D. “Danny” Diggs, the former sheriff of York County and Poquoson, who represents the 24th Senate District, which includes Williamsburg, Newport News and York County.

On the Democratic side, Sens. Lamont Bagby of Richmond, Mamie E. Locke of Hampton, L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth and Aaron R. Rouse of Virginia Beach were joined by newcomers Lashrecse Aird of Petersburg, Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk and Jennifer D. Carroll Foy of Prince William County.

The Black members of the House of Delegates include Republican A.C. Cordoza, 86th District and the following Democrats:

Adele McClure, 2nd District; Charniele Herring, 9th District; Karen A. Keys-Gamarra, 7th District; Rozia A. “J.R.” Henson Jr., 19th District; Michelle-Ann Maldonado, 20th District; Candi P.M. King, 23rd District; Luke E. Torian, 24th District; Briana D. Sewell, 25th District; Katrina E. Callsen, 54th District and Joshua G. Cole, 65th District. Also, Debra D. Gardner, 76th District; Michael J. Jones, 77th District; Rae C. Cousins, 79th District; Destiny Levere Bolling, 80th District; Delores L. McQuinn, 81st District; Nadarius E. Clark, 84th District; Marcia “Cia” Price, 85th District; Jeion A. Ward, 87th District; Don L. Scott Jr., 88th District; C.E. “Cliff” Hayes Jr., 91st District; Bonita Grace Anthony, 92nd District; Jackie Hope Glass, 93rd District; Alex Q. Askew, 95th District; and Michael B. Feggans, 97th District.

In addition to Speaker Scott’s historic role, Senate President Pro-Tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears serve in positions of power.

General Assembly members debated topics ranging from gambling, gun control, legacy admissions, marijuana sales and minimum wage. Democrats used their majorities to fend off Republican efforts to repeal voting access protections and environmental, and defeated several GOP-sponsored bills to ban or restrict abortion. One of those bills created high drama in the House when Democrats forced Republicans to take an up or down vote on whether all public funding for abortion should be banned with no exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormalities and when the life of the mother is at risk, reports the Virginia Mercury. After trying to avoid the vote altogether, nearly all Republicans voted against the bill that came from their side.

“We’re going to continue to push this issue out there until they all capitulate and start backing women’s reproductive health care,” Speaker Scott said of his move to bring the anti-abortion bill to the floor for a recorded vote. “Because they’ll continue to lose elections on this issue.”The 2024 session is scheduled to end Saturday, March 9. However, we hope that this reference guide to Virginia’s Black legislative representatives, compiled by George Copeland Jr. and Darlene M. Johnson, will prove useful to Richmond Free Press readers long after this year’s session adjourns.

Members of the Senate of Virginia 2024

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Members of the Virginia House of Delegates 2024