City of Virginia Beach

Virginia’s new 22nd State Senate district encompasses parts of Virginia Beach City. With almost 150,000 registered voters, this district leans Democratic. 

Democrat Dakota Claytor was born and raised in the 22nd state Senate district and hopes to be the youngest legislator in Virginia’s history. Claytor is a 22-year-old freelance hair stylist and private music educator. He has also been actively involved in community theater where he can often be found on stage.

Clayor supports various progressive priorities. He wants to work with small companies to expand broadband access to rural areas in the district in order to foster a better-connected workforce. Healthcare reform is important to him because of his mother’s significant health issues and her struggle for nearly twenty years before being granted disability benefits. After witnessing first-hand the crippling effects of a broken healthcare system in Virginia, Clayor is determined to improve it.

Clayor is running against Republican incumbent Senator Mark Peake who won a special election in 2017. Peake is anti-choice and has voted against commonsense gun laws. He opposed Medicaid expansion and voted against raising the minimum wage in Virginia. The majority of his platform is geared towards decreasing regulations put in place to protect Virginians.

Dakota Claytor is the more progressive choice because of his commitment to Medicaid expansion and our rural communities.

Virginia’s new 95th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Virginia Beach City and parts of Norfolk City. With over 57,000 registered voters, this district leans Democratic.

Democratic Delegate Marcia Price is the ultimate people’s champion based on her track record of leadership on progressive issues like gun violence prevention, reproductive rights, minority maternal health, and census outreach.

Delegate Price was born and raised on the Peninsula. She graduated from Warwick High School in the Peninsula's first graduating class of the International Baccalaureate Program, receiving the full IB Diploma and Advanced Studies Diploma. She attended Spelman College and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, with intensive study in Biology. She also received her Master of Arts in Religious Studies from Howard University. Delegate Price has completed some coursework toward her Master of Divinity Degree at Howard University.

In September 2016, Delegate Price worked to start the Virginia Black Leadership Organizing Collaborative (VA BLOC), a non-profit focused on "building empowered communities" through integrated voter engagement, civic involvement, and leadership development, where she serves as Director. As a fourth-generation resident of the Peninsula, she embraces her family's legacy of service and strives to make a positive impact in the Peninsula community that has given so much to her.Delegate Price has been a leader on many progressive issues including reproductive rights, race and equity, restoration of rights, and many more.

Delegate Price is running unopposed and is the more progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 96th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Virginia Beach City. With over 59,000 registered voters, this district leans Democratic.

Democratic candidate Dr. Mark Downey works as a pediatrician at Pediatric Associates of Williamsburg, a practice of Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. He grew up in the Queens Lake neighborhood in upper York County and graduated from Bruton High School in 1984. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Chemical Engineering, but after working for four years as a chemical engineer, decided to pursue a different path. He went to medical school at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.

Downey’s campaign priorities include public education, women’s rights, health care access, common sense gun laws, fighting climate change, cyber safety, and helping our veterans.

Republican Amanda Batten and Libertatian James Jobe both lack sustainable plans on how they will make Viringia a safe and healthy place for all Virginians. Batten is anti-choice and doesn’t support sensible gun laws. Jobe supports the legalization of marijuana and believes there should be term limits on members of Congress.

Dr. Mark Downey is the more progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 97th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Virginia Beach City. With over 63,000 registered voters, this is a competitive district that doesn’t lean in one direction or another.

Democratic candidate Dr. Kevin Washington was raised in Richmond, VA and served in the United States Army. His campaign platform is focused on education, health care, criminal justice reform, and the environment.

He will fight to create more livable wage jobs, improve our schools, and make public safety a top priority. His campaign priorities include working to ensure sexual orientation and gender identity are legally protected against workplace discrimination. He vows to support and defend the rights of disenfranchised communities, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. He also voiced his intention to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. He believes that the minimum wage should be increased over a few years and that we need to make improvements to our paid family and medical leave policies.

His opponent, Republican Scott Wyatt, is a strong advocate for conservative values. Wyatt has stated that if elected he will be a solid pro-life vote. Wyatt won the Republican nomination after months of infighting within the Republican Party and former Delegate Chris Peace.

Dr. Washington is the more progressive choice in this race.

Democratic candidate Dr. Ella Webster received her Doctorate in Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School. Since 2010, she has worked for health districts all over the eastern region. Dr. Webster served as a United States Peace Corps Maternal Child Health Volunteer in the Central African Republic for two years in the 1990s after receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Drew University. Dr. Webster served on the Gloucester County Public Library Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2019, when she was term-limited and has been on the Three Rivers Healthy Families Advisory Board since 2014.

Dr. Webster has professional experience with abortion services and believes choices about health care should be left to people and their doctors. She has voiced her concern about gun violence and seeks to create sensible gun laws.

Incumbent Republican Delegate Keith Hodges was elected into the House of Delegates in 2011 and voted to prohibit sanctuary cities in Virginia, allowing the use of local resources to do the job of the federal government and the separate of immigrant families. He also supports the controversial Atlantic Coast pipeline. He has rejected commonsense gun violence prevention measures.

Dr. Webster is the more progressive choice in this race.

Democratic candidate Francis Edwards, a retired international CEO of QVC, graduated from the University of Cambridge with honors. He earned a masters degree in engineering and a postgraduate degree in business administration. He is originally from London and came to America seeking the American dream of ‘'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

Edwards’ campaign platform includes ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, fair redistricting reform, and enacting automatic voter registration. He also vows to bring broadband internet to all areas of Virginia.

Incumbent Republican Delegate Margaret Ransone was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2011 has constantly shown us that progressive issues are not her priority. She is a strong supporter of Virginia’s Right to Work laws, policies that are designed to destroy labor unions. She has opposed legislation to protect reproductive rights, and voted against expanding Medicaid in Virginia.

Francis Edwards is the more progressive choice in this race. 

Democratic candidate Phil Hernandez, an attorney, was raised in Hampton Roads by a single mom. He went to public schools and then to the College of William and Mary, becoming the first in his family to graduate from college.

He has spent the years since fighting for the rights of working people around the country. Hernandez vows to ease the burden of student loan debt and protect borrowers from abusive lending practices. He plans to champion policies that reduce harmful pollution in our air and water, improve coastal resilience, and create new jobs and industries in clean energy technology. He has pledged support for the Equal Rights Amendment and policies that build a more inclusive future, including the areas of housing, employment, and voting rights.

Incumbent Republican Delegate Robert Bloxom fought for increased car inspections fees. He has opposed reproductive rights. Even though he sponsored legislation to give driver's licenses to immigrants, he voted to prohibit sanctuary cities (cities with municipal laws designed to protect immigrants) in Virginia. He also voted to restrict access to safe and legal abortions.

Hernandez is the progressive choice in this race.