Incumbent Democratic Delegate Mark Sickles has served in the House of Delegates since 2004. He currently sits on several committees centering the environment, including the House committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, and the Energy and Environment Commission. He also sits on the Appropriations committee and the Privileges and Elections committee.

Delegate Sickles is a member of the LGBTQ community and co-sponsored a bill that would criminalize discrimination based on sexual or gender identity. He also voted against a bill that would allow adoption agencies to discriminate based on sexual or gender identity. Delegate Sickles has voted against requiring specific, state issued photo IDs for voting, a bill that made it harder for some people to make their voices heard in our democracy. He is a supporter of the immigrant community and voted against legislation that prohibited sanctuary cities in Virginia. Delegate Sickles also supports access to abortion and affordable health care access for everyone. He voted for Medicaid expansion, which allowed an additional 300,000 Virginians to see a doctor when they need to.

Delegate Sickles is running against Independent G. Gail Parker. Parker’s primary stance as a member of the Green Party is mandated clean energy and usage of renewable resources.

Delegate Sickles is the more progressive choice in this race because of his positions on health care access, equality, and voting rights.