House District 040

Democrat Herbert Jones Jr. came to Virginia through an assignment in the Army. After leaving active duty to join the reserves, he was elected County Supervisor of New Kent County in 1999, beginning his journey in elected office. Thanks to his extensive knowledge of the military, Governor Northam appointed him to the commonwealth’s Military Advisory Council. 

Jones Jr. is pro-choice and has openly stated his support of reproductive healthcare facilities like Planned Parenthood. He supports clean, renewable energy and is in favor of common sense solutions to prevent gun violence. Jones supports raising teacher pay, increasing funding for pre-k, and apprenticeships for students. Unlike his opponent, he supports Medicaid expansion and would work to completely close the healthcare gap in Virginia.

His opponent, incumbent Senator Tommy Norment, is the Senate Majority Leader. He has consistently and vocally opposed progressive priorities. He has voted for bills that target immigrant communities and opposed bills that would increase the quality of life of those who have immigrated to the US. He has consistently opposed reproductive rights, including voting to mandate medically unnecessary ultrasounds and prohibit the use of state funds for abortion. Norment has repeatedly voted against raising the minimum wage. Because Sen. Norment is the Senate Majority Leader, the power that he holds often leads to the defeat of our bills.

Jones is the more progressive choice in this race.

Democratic candidate Stan Scott is a military veteran who moved to Virginia after retiring from the Army in 2002. He went to George Washington University, pursuing doctoral work in international relations and public policy. Scott now resides in Mechanicsville and has been a member of the Hanover Democratic Committee for over ten years.

Scott believes in healthcare accessibility and supports Medicaid Expansion. In his campaign, he has prioritized completely closing the healthcare gap that still remains. Scott urges investment in universal pre-kindergarten and equal funding for all schools. He wants to increase teacher pay, make college tuition more affordable, and better fund community colleges. He supports commonsense gun violence prevention measures, including closing the gun show loophole. Scott also supports clean energy and wants to force polluting utility monopolies to pay for the damage they do.

Incumbent Republican Senator Ryan McDougle voted against expanding Medicaid to 400,000 Virignians. He opposes gun violence prevention measures and has voted to expand gun rights in Virginia. Senator McDougle is anti-choice. He voted for legislation that scapegoats immigrants and opposed state ratification of the ERA. He voted against legislation that would prohibit discrimination in housing based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Scott is the progressive choice in this race.

Democratic candidate Dan Helmer is running against incumbent Republican Delegate Tim Hugo. Helmer is a combat veteran. His wife, Karen, is a public school teacher in Fairfax County. They live in Fairfax with their children.

Helmer is in favor of increasing teacher pay and investing in public schools. He supports Medicaid expansion and other solutions to increase access to affordable health care. He also supports abortion access and believes abortion is health care. As a progressive, Helmer also supports increasing the minimum wage, gun violence prevention, clean energy, and fair redistricting reform.

Delegate Tim Hugo was elected to the House of Delegates in 2003. He voted against Medicaid expansion. In 2012, he voted in favor of legislation that required people seeking an abortion to undergo a mandatory, medically unnecessary transvaginal ultrasound. He also has a record of making it harder to be an immigrant in Virginia by voting to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state tuition at Virginia colleges and universities.

Dan Helmer is the more progressive choice in this race because of his support of increasing the minimum wage and health care access.