Virginia Democrats nominate a diverse slate of candidates for the Legislature

Virginia Democrats and Republicans officially selected their nominees on June 20 for the commonwealth’s November legislative elections. Democrats nominated a historically diverse slate of pro-choice candidates, most of them women. Republicans nominated mostly white men who oppose reproductive rights.

Anti-abortion Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in Virginia’s House of Delegates, while pro-abortion rights Democrats narrowly control the Senate. With every seat in the General Assembly on the ballot and abortion rights opponent Gov. Glenn Youngkin pushing for a statewide ban on abortion, the fate of reproductive rights in Virginia will be decided by voters this November.

Virginia is the last state in the South without an abortion ban on the books, and Republicans hope to change that if they can win majorities in both chambers.

“Any bill that comes to my desk I will sign happily and gleefully in order to protect life,” Youngkin told the right-wing Family Foundation of Virginia in June 2022, according to the Washington Post.

Democrats nominated candidates in 39 of the 40 Senate districts and for 90 of the 100 House seats, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Twenty-two of the Democratic Senate nominees are women who back reproductive freedom, as are 46 of the House nominees. Sen. Joe Morrissey, the lone Senate Democrat who backed an abortion ban, lost his run for renomination to former Del. Lashrecse Aird, who ran on her support for reproductive rights.

On Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Virginia tweeted that about half of its nominees in each chamber are candidates of color: “BREAKING: Virginia Democrats have nominated one of the most diverse slates of candidates EVER. Having a diverse slate of candidates is critical if the General Assembly is going to reflect the Commonwealth it represents.”

The Washington Post reported on Monday that Youngkin adviser Dave Rexrode wrote in a memo that the GOP nominees reflected Virginia’s diversity, citing candidates in seven suburban bellwether districts. “Consider this — the entire slate of state senate candidates in battleground districts is either a woman, minority, or either retired law enforcement or military,” he wrote.

But the outlet noted that statewide, only about 15% of the GOP’s legislative nominees are female and 10% are people of color. Virtually all of those Republicans have previously backed an abortion ban or otherwise indicated opposition to abortion rights.

At least eight openly LGBTQ+ legislative candidates, all of them Democrats, won nominations. These include historic firsts: If elected, current Del. Danica Roem would become the first openly transgender state senator in the South, and Rozia Henson would be the first openly gay Black man in the Virginia Legislature.

At least 10 Democratic nominees are veterans.

Saddam Salim, who immigrated to the United States as a child, is the first Bangladeshi American Democratic Senate nominee in Virginia history. Atoosa Reaser would be the first Iranian American to serve in the Virginia Legislature.

Morgan Hopkins, communications director for the House Democratic Caucus, told the American Independent Foundation on Wednesday:

It comes down to this. We’ve presented a slate of diverse candidates that represent Virginia and the experiences of all of the different people who live here. The Republicans, in a shock to no one, have continued to choose extreme candidates that are completely out of touch with Virginia and present a real threat to people across the Commonwealth, especially when it comes to abortion, gun violence, and protecting democracy.

Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke said: “A record number of Democratic women and people of color are running for the Senate across Virginia this year. We’re excited to have nominees that reflect the diversity of our commonwealth who will fight to protect abortion rights, keep our communities safe from gun violence, and stand up to Republican extremism.”

Polls have shown that Virginians do not want new reproductive health care restrictions. In a late-March Washington Post-Schar School survey, 17% of all Virginia voters and only 36% of Virginia Republicans indicated they want stricter abortion laws; 41% of voters want less strict abortion laws, and 34% prefer the status quo. Just 35% of those surveyed said they approve of Youngkin’s handling of the abortion issue.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.