Chesterfield County

Incumbent Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg is a history and U.S. government teacher who has represented the 72nd District since 2018. He was born in New York and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond. He currently teaches at Glen Allen High School in Henrico County and is the only active K-12 teacher serving in the General Assembly. He lives in Henrico County with his wife and is the proud father of three children.

As a public school teacher, Del. VanValkenburg has served as a critical advocate for public education in the General Assembly. He voted in favor of a 5% pay raise for teachers and will work for further salary increases. He voted to expand funding for school support staff, including access to school counselors and nurses. Counselors were a priority for him when he served on a commission for school safety in 2018 and worked to ensure investment in student mental health. VanValkenburg would like to do further work to address gun violence in schools and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Making the promise of democracy real by expanding access to voting is another one of VanValkenburg’s priorities. He was a strong supporter of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. As a civics teacher, he’s passionate about getting young people involved in the democratic process. He voted in favor of a bill to give students one excused absence a year to vote or participate in a civic event.

VanValkenburg considers voting to expand Medicaid in 2018 his most important vote as a delegate. Medicaid expansion granted access to affordable health coverage to over 500,000 Virginians. VanValkenburg has more goals to make healthcare more affordable. Voting in favor of a $50 cap on insulin, he supports price regulations on prescription drug companies. He would also like to increase funding to help bridge the gap in healthcare quality between rural and urban communities.

VanValkenburg has worked for an equitable and strong economy. He sponsored legislation to promote apprenticeship and job training programs. He would like to ensure Virginia’s college and vocational programs are affordable to all who wish to attend, and he voted in favor of the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back “G3” program, which makes community college tuition-free for low- and middle-income students who study in certain fields. He also voted in favor of raising the minimum wage.

Del. VanValkenburg’s opponent is Christopher Holmes (R), a Richmond native who works as an operations infrastructure manager for a healthcare company. He supports deliberate barriers to limit access to voting and opposes common-sense gun violence prevention measures. He also opposes holding law enforcement accountable for violence inflicted on communities and shifting funding away from police to communities in need of services.

Due to his support of public education, voting rights, affordable healthcare, and Virginia working families, Del. VanValkenburg is the most progressive choice in this race.

Incumbent Delegate Rodney Willett, a Democrat, has represented the 73rd District in the House of Delegates since 2020. Willett is a Virginia native who received both his undergraduate and law degree from the College of William and Mary. As an attorney, Willett was critical to establishing a free legal assistance program at his firm. He currently works at Impact Makers, which provides pro-bono legal support to nonprofit organizations and families. He lives in Henrico with his wife and three children.

Serving on the House Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee, Willett voted in favor of critical environmental protections. He voted in favor of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which will transition the commonwealth to 100% renewable energy by 2050. and lead to increased investment in solar and offshore wind energy, creating jobs. Willett also helped pass the 2020 Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act. This law enters Virginia into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is an alliance of states dedicated to the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions.

Willett has supported common-sense gun violence prevention legislation, voting in favor of seven critical pieces of legislation in 2020 to decrease gun violence in Virginia. The bills ensured universal background checks on gun sales, required gun owners to report lost or stolen guns, and permitted localities to create their own regulations on the possession of firearms and ammunition. This legislation also allows law enforcement to confiscate guns from an individual deemed to be a risk to themselves or others, establishes a one-gun-per-month purchase limit, and increases the punishment for leaving guns around unsupervised minors.

Willett voted for increased funding for education at all levels. He voted for a 5% raise for teachers in 2021 and more money for schools to reopen safely during the pandemic. He was influential in adding over $90 million dollars of funding towards early childhood education for at-risk three- and four-year-olds. He will work to ensure higher education is affordable and accessible to all and introduced and successfully passed legislation to protect students from predatory, for-profit colleges.

Willett has worked to make the promise of democracy real for us all by ensuring people have access to our fair and free elections. He voted in favor of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. He also voted for increasing voting access and making Virginia voters safe while casting their ballots during the pandemic. Willett also successfully introduced and passed legislation requiring the Department of Elections to directly provide voter registration forms to college students.

Del. Willett’s opponent is Republican Mary Margaret Kastelberg, a Henrico County native who attended the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. She worked in investment banking before stepping back to become a stay-at-home mom. Kastelberg supports using taxpayer money to fund private education, such as school voucher programs. She opposes workers’ rights and their ability to form unions.

Due to his support of public education, the environment, voting rights, and gun violence prevention measures, Del. Willett is the most progressive choice for Virginia’s 73rd District.

Incumbent Delegate Lamont Bagby has represented the 74th District since 2015. Bagby was raised in Richmond and received a degree in business from Norfolk State University. In 2009, he was the youngest elected official in the Richmond area after his election to the Henrico County School Board at the age of 32. Bagby currently works as director of operations at the Peter Paul Development Center, which provides childhood education, family support, and community engagement services in Richmond’s East End.

As chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, Bagby has introduced and passed important bills for racial equity. He advocated for the removal of confederate monuments and led the charge for the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue at the State Capitol. He voted for legislation in 2020 that allows localities to remove Confederate statues or memorials. He has also worked for the preservation of Black history, expanding the Virginia Battlefield Preservation Fund to include battlefields where Black soldiers fought and died.

Bagby has also worked for criminal justice reform to ensure fair treatment of Black and Brown community members. He successfully patroned legislation that implements a process for the automatic expungement of certain criminal convictions. This bill ensures those with criminal records have access to housing, employment, and educational opportunities. He voted to abolish the death penalty and legalize marijuana, both of which have disproportionately impacted Black and Brown Virginians. Additionally, Bagby supports ending qualified immunity for police officers and mandatory minimums for those who have been convicted of certain crimes.

As a co-patron of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, Bagby worked to ensure no Virginian faces discriminatory barriers to voting. He also supported making absentee voting more accessible and extending early voting. He introduced and successfully passed a bill to introduce in-person early voting hours on Sundays. These bills help ensure Virginians have more options for when, where, and how to vote so that voting is accessible to all.

Bagby passed legislation to increase environmental protections and tackle climate change in Virginia. He introduced legislation that creates new emission standards for vehicles and mandates car manufacturers to produce a certain percentage of low- and zero-emission vehicles. This bill goes hand-in-hand with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which Bagby voted for in 2020, reducing carbon emissions from the state’s power grid and transitioning Virginia to 100% clean energy by 2050.

Del. Bagby’s opponent is Republican James “Jimmy” Brooks, a retired US Army Veteran and native of Lynchburg. He supports using taxpayer money to fund private schools through the use of school vouchers and deliberate barriers to voting. He opposes minimum ages for gun purchases and other common-sense gun violence prevention legislation.

Due to his support of racial justice, voting access, criminal justice reform, and the environment, Delegate Lamont Bagby is the most progressive choice for Virginia’s 74th District.

Delegate Roslyn “Roz” Tyler has represented the 75th District since 2006. She earned her master’s degree in education from Virginia State University. Professionally, she serves as Clinical Coordinator of Physical Therapy at Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center. She also serves on the board of Smart Beginnings, a non-profit dedicated to early childhood education, and as an organizer of the 75th District Gospel Choir. She lives in Jarratt, Virginia, with her husband and has four children and two grandchildren.

Tyler currently serves as chair of the Education Committee, where she has worked to ensure high-quality education for all students. She voted in favor of increased teacher pay and is working to raise salaries above the national average so that the Commonwealth is able to recruit and retain the best teachers. She also has expanded funding for early childhood education and pre-K. She worked to make higher education more affordable by voting for the Get Skilled, Give Back, Get a Job “G3” program, which makes community college tuition-free for low- and middle-income students who study in certain fields.

Tyler has advocated for access to quality, affordable healthcare as well. She voted in favor of Medicaid expansion in 2018, which provided health insurance coverage to over 500,000 Virginians. She worked to reduce exorbitant prescription drug prices by voting in favor of capping the cost of insulin. She is also in favor of increasing funding and access to mental health services. She fought to increase state coverage of healthcare to include the people with developmental disabilities, residential supported living, and maternal health coverage.

Tyler also supports workers’ rights and has uplifted working families in her district. She voted to increase the minimum wage in 2020. She expanded funding for the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, which stimulates the economy, creates jobs, and funds many women- and minority-owned businesses. Tyler also voted in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment, demonstrating her dedication to ensuring women receive equal pay and do not face workplace discrimination. In 2021, Tyler voted to pass the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which provides labor protections to domestic workers like nannies and housekeepers.

Tyler has also expanded economic opportunity in the state while serving as vice-chair of the Broadband Advisory Council. Her work led to a recent $700 million investment in broadband access, which puts Virginia on track to be one of the first states with near-universal broadband. The money will be particularly critical in her district’s rural areas, which are disproportionately harmed by the lack of Internet access. Tyler’s dedication to expanding broadband access will lead to many new educational and job opportunities for rural Virginians.

Tyler is facing a challenge from Republican Otto Wachsmann, a Sussex County pharmacist and small business owner. He opposes common-sense measures aimed at keeping our communities safe from gun violence. He disapproves of efforts to hold police accountable for abusing their power. Additionally, he is against abortion access.

Due to her support of access to affordable healthcare, Virginia working families, public education, and expanding broadband access, Del. Tyler is the most progressive choice for the 75th District.

Incumbent Delegate Clint Jenkins was elected to the House of Delegates in 2019. He is a native of the 76th District, who grew up in Suffolk and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. He then enlisted in the US Army, where he served as a mechanic before earning his undergraduate degree from Saint Leo University and graduate degree from Southeastern Baptist Theology Seminary. He currently runs a local real estate company with his daughter.

Since taking office, Jenkins has supported critical criminal justice reforms in the Commonwealth. He voted for probation reform to cap the prison sentence a judge can impose for a probation violation. He voted in favor of automatic expungement processes so that individuals with criminal records have fair access to jobs and housing. He was a co-patron on the bill to legalize marijuana in Virginia. Jenkins also voted to abolish the death penalty.

Jenkins has worked to ensure well-funded and equitable schools in Virginia. He introduced and successfully passed a bill that requires all teachers, principals, and superintendents to demonstrate cultural competency as part of their yearly evaluations, including all history and social science teachers undergoing certification to teach African American history. Jenkins also voted for a 5% raise for teachers and funded new school counselor and nurse positions. He supported expanding financial aid to undocumented students and the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back “G3” program, making community college tuition-free for low- and middle-income students who study in certain fields.

Jenkins has worked to make elections more fair and accessible by voting in favor of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. He was a co-patron of a successful bill to move municipal elections from May to November starting in 2022 so that election days are more accessible and known to the public. He voted to give students one excused absence per year in order to vote and participate in other civic activities.

Jenkins has supported Virginia working families through his work in the House of Delegates. He voted to raise the minimum wage and voted in favor of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which extends labor protections to domestic workers and ensures they are paid a minimum wage. He supports paid family and medical leave, as well as access to affordable childcare and eldercare. He’s dedicated to ending food and housing insecurity in the district, working to provide rent support for those who need it.

Jenkins is facing a challenge from Republican Michael Dillender, a retired Navy Captain and small business owner. He supports using taxpayer money to fund private schools through school voucher programs. He opposes efforts to shift police funding to social services and mental health support. Dillender is also against government efforts to protect the public from the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to his support for criminal justice reform, working families, public education, and making our elections free and fair, Delegate Clint Jenkins is the most progressive choice in this race.

Incumbent Delegate Cliff Hayes was born in Chesapeake and has represented the 77th District in the House of Delegates since 2016. He attended Norfolk State University, where he played basketball and completed post-graduate studies at multiple institutes of higher education. He spent his professional career working in information technology and technology policy. He also served as a member of the Chesapeake City Council from 2004 to 2012. He has two college-aged daughters and lives with his wife in Chesapeake.

Serving as the chair of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science, Hayes is a strong advocate for technological developments that boost the economy and protect the environment. He introduced and successfully passed legislation that created a major offshore wind generation facility. His work on this project led him to receive a certificate of appreciation from the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. Del. Hayes also voted in favor of the passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which will transition Virginia’s energy grid to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Hayes has worked to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all Virginians. He voted in favor of Medicaid expansion in 2018, which granted access to affordable healthcare to 400,000 Virginians. Hayes was chief co-patron of a bill that expanded telemedicine services and ensured Virginians could safely see their doctors during the pandemic and beyond. He also voted to make abortion coverage available on the state health insurance exchange. He voted to cap insulin prices at $50 and he introduced and passed a bill to make it easier for pharmacies to distribute marijuana and CBD-based products.

Hayes has supported increased school funding at all levels. He voted in favor of a budget that gave teachers a 5% raise, increased funding for school counselors and nurses, and additional money to ensure schools can safely reopen during the pandemic. Hayes also worked to make higher education more affordable by voting for the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) program, which makes community college tuition-free for low-and middle-income students who study in certain fields.

As a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, Hayes has supported bills to ensure racial equity in Virginia. He voted to recognize racism as a public health crisis in the Commonwealth. The caucus also worked to ensure that the tax dollars received from the legalization of marijuana went to the Black and Brown communities that were disproportionately affected by drug enforcement. Hayes also fought for the historical preservation and funding for the maintenance of Black cemeteries in Chesapeake.

Hayes is facing a challenge from Republican candidate Geoffrey Burke, a Trump supporter. He believes Virginia should remain a right-to-work state, which greatly undermines the strength of unions. Burke also believes in privatizing education and opposes government regulations on polluting companies. He is against abortion access and common-sense measures aimed at keeping our communities safe from gun violence.

Due to his support of the environment, access to affordable healthcare, public education, and racial justice, Delegate Cliff Hayes is the most progressive choice for the 77th District.

Podiatrist Jeffrey ”Doc” Feld is running to represent the 80th District in the House of Delegates. He has lived in Virginia Beach for 20 years where his wife is a public school teacher. A former chief resident at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Feld runs his own medical practice with several locations in the area. He spends a lot of time volunteering with youth sports organizations and at local nursing homes while raising three children with his wife.

Understanding that strong schools are the backbone of thriving communities, Feld has unique insight into the need to improve equity in the education system because his wife is a teacher and their children attend public schools. He supports fully funding schools, universal pre-K, and raising teacher pay to attract the best talent and prevent turnover. He wants to reduce classroom sizes, increase student access to mental health resources, and make college tuition affordable in the Commonwealth.

As a resident of a coastal area vulnerable to rising sea levels, Feld knows the urgency of the climate crisis. He believes in using a collaborative approach to find common ground for all stakeholders to implement a just transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. He wants to work with local farmers and the agricultural industry to increase education on environmental issues and make available programs, such as tree planting, to help them protect the environment. Feld also believes that the eco-tourism initiatives in the 81st District can help connect the area’s tourism industry with environmental preservation.

Feld’s experience in the medical field has led him to believe that all families in the district should have access to quality, affordable healthcare. He wants to lower prescription costs, make billing more transparent, and increase funding for mental health support and substance abuse recovery. He will fight to protect vulnerable populations and people with pre-existing conditions. He is also passionate about providing healthcare to veterans with his experience working at local veteran health facilities.

Feld wants to boost economic opportunities for working people to live with dignity and supports a living wage. He understands the hardships people are facing during the pandemic and will work to ensure that federal and state money is funneled to the district to create jobs and build infrastructure. He wants to ensure that local businesses have access to grants and loans to stay afloat during the pandemic and will collaborate with local banks and creditors to make resources available as well.

Feld is challenging incumbent Delegate Barry Knight (R), a hog farmer. Knight opposes keeping communities safe with common-sense measures to prevent gun violence. In 2020, he voted against increasing the minimum wage and the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which commits the Commonwealth to 100% clean energy by 2050. This year, he opposed abolishing the death penalty and the Voting Rights Act of Virginia.

Due to his support of public education, the environment, access to affordable healthcare, and working families, Jeffrey Feld is the most progressive choice in this election.