City of Virginia Beach

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.

Incumbent Delegate Marcia “Cia” Price has represented the 95th District in the House of Delegates since 2016. She received an undergraduate degree from Spelman College and a master’s degree from Howard University. She has served as a special assistant in the Virginia Liaison Office, a state coordinator for the NAACP’s This Is My Vote! Campaign, and a dental office administrator. She founded the Virginia Black Leadership Organizing Collaborative (VA BLOC), which focuses on voter and civic engagement.

Price is a strong supporter of expanding access to the ballot box. She successfully sponsored the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. She also voted to keep voters safe during the pandemic by establishing drop boxes for ballots and removing the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots during an emergency. Price also voted for bills to extend early voting, remove the requirement for an excuse for absentee voting, open up the polls for Sunday voting hours and opportunities for curbside voting, in addition to making Election Day a state holiday.
Price wants to address the housing crisis by advocating for tenant rights and affordable housing in the Commonwealth. She was the chief patron of legislation to ensure that measures to protect the rights of tenants during the pandemic are made permanent and supported additional measures to protect renters during the pandemic. She also helped expand access to the Virginia Rent Relief Program and voted to create the Virginia housing opportunity tax credit, which assists low-income individuals.

Price was a co-patron of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which provided critical protections for workers like housekeepers, nannies, and many others, ensuring they have the same labor protections and a minimum wage like everyone else. In addition, she voted in favor of successfully raising the minimum wage and supported efforts to end the exclusion of farmworkers from minimum wage requirements. She also helped pass the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, which guarantees employees receive fair compensation for overtime work.

Price has worked to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all. In 2018, she voted to expand Medicaid, increasing coverage for nearly 500,000 Virginians. She supported the $50 cap on insulin and is working to cap prices for other expensive prescription drugs. She also voted in favor of a bill to require state-run health facilities to treat undocumented immigrants rather than report them. She also voted for legislation that requires insurance companies to cover abortion services.

Price is facing a challenge from Republican David Wilson, a conservative community organizer. Wilson opposes access to abortion. Wilson has also shared homophobic content on social media. He opposes government efforts to keep communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, including mask wearing, and is posting misinformation on the COVID-19 vaccine on social media.

Due to her support of expanding access to the ballot, working families, and access to affordable healthcare, Delegate Marcia Price is the most 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.

Dr. Mark Downey is a Democrat and pediatrician running to represent the 96th District in the House of Delegates. After working as an engineer for many years, he changed his career path and attended the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond to become a doctor. He has worked as a pediatrician for the past 20 years. He lives with his wife in Queens Lake, has four children, and is active as a coach and swimmer on area swim teams.

As a physician, Dr. Downey believes access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, and he is passionate about improving the access and affordability of healthcare in Virginia. He would like to see more regulations on insurance companies so that out-of-pocket costs do not prevent individuals from receiving necessary care. He supports efforts to increase investment in preventative care to improve statewide public health. He also wants to find a community-focused approach to health, particularly in improving mental health and addressing addiction. He also advocated for expanding Medicaid coverage to include dental insurance.

Dr. Downey also advocates for policies to mitigate the effects of climate change and protect the environment. As a scientist, he supports evidence-based policies. He understands how sea-level rise, storms, and flooding will cause increased damage to our communities if the root cause of climate change is not addressed. He hopes to implement policies that will create jobs in the clean energy industry. He has pledged not to accept donations from fossil fuel interests, corporate PACs, and lobbyists.

Downey wants to see the implementation of a living wage and supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He would vote for policies that make it easier for parents to participate in the workforce, including the expansion of the Child Care Subsidy Program and other programs to make child care more affordable. He hopes to end the racial gaps in access to paid time off, sick days, family and medical leave. He would also like to see increased funding for affordable housing in the district and an end to housing insecurity.

As a graduate of Virginia public schools, Downey strongly supports public education and will prioritize fully funding the state’s public schools. He will work to reduce classroom size as well as invest in necessary school infrastructure improvements. He will also ensure students are ready for the 21st-century workforce by implementing programs in science, technology, engineering, and math. He is endorsed by the Virginia Educators’ Association and the Network for Public Education for his dedication to teachers and students.

Dr. Downey is running against incumbent Delegate Amanda Batten (R), who has represented the district for one term. Batten voted against the Virginia Voting Rights Act, the Virginia Clean Economy Act, and the legalization of marijuana. She also opposed abolishing the death penalty in Virginia and raising the minimum wage.

Due to his support of access to affordable healthcare, the environment, public education, and working families, Dr. Mark Downey is the most progressive choice for the 96th District.

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.

Stan Scott is an Army veteran running to represent the 97th District in the House of Delegates. Scott spent much of his military career serving in Germany and was deployed on a combat mission to Bosnia. He retired after serving as a soldier for 20 years. He went back to school and earned a master’s degree at George Washington University. He currently teaches government at Piedmont Virginia Community College and works as a political consultant at his firm, Crux Analytics.

Scott believes that healthcare is a human right and will work to ensure healthcare is accessible and affordable for all Virginians. He is a supporter of Medicaid expansion and would like to further expand access to the program by changing the eligibility requirements. He would like to fund more primary care residency positions in Virginia’s hospitals so that the state can recruit high-quality physicians. He also supports increased funding for local community health centers.

Scott has advocated for gun violence prevention legislation with Moms Demand Action and, if elected, will continue working to keep communities safe in the Commonwealth. He supports universal background checks, including mental health treatment and domestic abuse convictions. He would like to implement a 14-day waiting period for any gun purchase and end transfers at gun shows. He would instead like to require all gun purchases to occur at established dealers. He would also work to prohibit the sale and possession of military-grade weapons.

Scott advocates for economic policies to uplift Virginia working families. He supports a living wage, paid time off, and strong workplace safety measures. Additionally, he hopes to end Virginia’s anti-union laws that prevent working people from advocating for themselves. Scott would also like to expand broadband access and transportation infrastructure so that district residents have access to education and jobs, both remotely and in person. He also knows a strong economy starts with great schools. He would like to increase funding for community colleges and vocational training in order to support an educated and well-trained workforce.

Scott supports policies to make elections more accessible. Nationally, he wants to see the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act. He’s in favor of policies that make voting as easy as possible, including early, absentee, and curbside voting options. Scott also supports campaign finance reform to limit the impact of corporate money on politics and instead leave election results up to the voters. He believes that the Commonwealth should ban campaign contributions from publicly regulated utilities and establish firm limits on individual and corporate contributions to political campaigns.

Stan Scott is running against incumbent Republican Delegate Scott Wyatt, who has represented the district for one term. Wyatt opposes legislative measures to keep our communities safe from gun violence and is against abortion access. He also voted against raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, and abolishing the death penalty.

Due to his support of access to affordable healthcare, gun violence prevention, working families, and voting access Stan Scott is the most progressive choice in this race.

Dr. Ella Webster is a 13th generation Virginian running to represent the 98th District in the House of Delegates. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Webster served as a medical volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Central African Republic. She later earned her doctorate in medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and worked on preventing maternal and child mortality in Richmond and Gloucester. Since 2010, she’s worked for the Virginia Department of Health in many areas of Eastern Virginia.

As a doctor, Webster advocates for policies to ensure high-quality healthcare is affordable and accessible to everyone in our community. She supports the Medicaid buy-in option, where the state would provide income-based subsidies to people whose employers don’t offer insurance so that they are able to be insured through Medicaid. Webster also believes the state should negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry for the lowest drug prices possible and make those prices publicly available.

Webster wants to make the promise of democracy real for us all by supporting policies to expand voting access. She wants to see the automatic restoration of voting rights for returning citizens. She also supports making absentee voting easier, extending early voting, and pre-paid postage for absentee ballots. She would like to expand options for same-day voter registration as well. She is a proponent of fair districting and would like to explore options for implementing ranked-choice voting.

Webster has always been an advocate for women’s rights and wants to continue her advocacy for women while in office. She is passionate about ensuring that women have access to abortions and parents are able to fully participate in the workforce. During her service in the Peace Corps, she supported women with critical reproductive healthcare needs. Webster also received the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy’s “Family Friendly Seal of Approval” for her commitment to affordable child care and elder care, as well as paid sick and family leave.

Webster would like to increase funding and resources for Virginia’s public schools. She hopes to decrease class size, particularly to decrease educational disparities. She would work to increase teacher salaries up to the national average in order to reduce teacher turnover and ensure that Virginia is able to recruit and retain high-quality educators. She also supports the legislature’s efforts to ensure all students receive healthy meals at school and would expand funding for free breakfasts and lunches.

Webster is running against Republican incumbent Delegate Keith Hodges, who has represented the district since 2012 and owns a pharmacy in Gloucester. Hodges voted against raising the minimum wage and keeping communities safe from gun violence. He also voted against abolishing the death penalty and legalizing marijuana. Additionally, he opposed the Virginia Clean Energy Act and the Virginia Voting Rights Act.

Due to her support of access to affordable healthcare, abortion access, voting access, and public education, Dr. Ella Webster is the most progressive choice in this race.

Reverend Linwood Blizzard is a Williamsburg native, pastor, and educator. His ancestral roots trace back to Surry County in the 1700s. Blizzard attended Virginia Tech and received graduate degrees from Howard University and Boston University. He spent several years working in the pharmaceutical industry as an engineer. He currently serves as senior pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church, a calculus teacher at Northumberland High School, a member of Northumberland Democratic Committee, and an adjunct professor of theology at Virginia Union University.

Rev. Blizzard has served as a strong advocate for racial and gender equality. He helped found and organize the Interracial Conversations of Northumberland and Lancaster counties, which come together for roundtable discussions and community-building events surrounding racial equity. He hopes to ensure fair access to jobs, education, and housing for everyone in our community, as well as guarantee fair pay and protections against workplace discrimination. He will prioritize access to the ballot box and counter any attempt at racially motivated voter suppression.

Blizzard will also prioritize equitable criminal justice reform if elected. He has done critical work to help establish the region’s first community review board, which will work to ensure police are held accountable for their actions. If elected, he would like to implement reform to both police enforcement and the court system to ensure racial equity, in policing as well as sentencing. Blizzard also supports the passage of common-sense gun violence prevention legislation.

As a public school teacher, Blizzard supports fully-funded schools and well-paid teachers. He’s in favor of increasing teacher salaries so that the state is able to recruit and retain the best teachers and our educators receive the compensation they deserve. He served on the Northumberland County Public Schools Equity Committee, working to ensure all students receive equal treatment and quality education, regardless of their race or background. He supports expanded options for pre-K and access to community colleges and higher education.

Rev. Blizzard will work to uplift workers. He supports the right of people to come together to advocate for themselves with a union. He also favors increasing the minimum wage to guarantee that hourly workers can live above the poverty line. Blizzard sees fighting climate change and increasing environmental protections as an opportunity for job creation in new industries. He will prioritize protecting the district’s fishing and agricultural workers while implementing new environmentally conscious practices. Blizzard also supports expanding broadband access, as it will play a critical role in ensuring rural Virginians have equal access to new 21st century jobs.

Blizzard is challenging the incumbent Delegate Margaret Ransone, a Republican and businesswoman who was elected to the General Assembly in 2011. Ransone voted against increasing the minimum wage. She also opposed marijuana legalization, the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, and abolishing the death penalty. She earned an “A” rating from the NRA and voted against the gun violence prevention legislation passed in 2020.

Due to his dedication to equality, criminal justice reform, working families and public education, Rev. Linwood Blizzard is the most progressive choice in this race.

Finale Norton was born in Exmore, Va., and currently lives in Jamesville, Va. She attended Hampton University. After college, she began working for Bank of America Sovran Bank in Norfolk. She worked her way up the corporate ladder for 26 years, eventually joining a consulting company. She has been involved civically in the 100th district through the United Way, Junior Achievement Mentorship, Habitat for Humanity, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, March of Dimes, and the Urban League.

Since the district is a coastal area, addressing climate change will be one of Norton’s top priorities. Norton has witnessed the effects of rising sea levels and extreme weather events and understands how climate events will disproportionately impact certain communities. She supports access to clean air and water, knowing they are critical to community health and the health of future generations. She will work to ensure public utilities and corporations are held accountable for their impact on the environment and are responsible to their communities.

Norton attended public schools her whole life and graduated from Northampton High School. She is a proponent of well-funded public schools and well-paid teachers. She will advocate for increased funding to ensure schools are safe and have the resources they need to meet every student’s needs. She supports STEM-related programs that prepare students for working in a technologically oriented society. Additionally, Norton believes that expanding broadband access is a critical step to education equity. She will work to ensure all students, regardless of whether they live in a rural or urban area, have access to the Internet.

Norton is an advocate for working families. She supports labor unions and opportunities for collective bargaining, ensuring that workers are able to receive fair pay, time off, and sufficient benefits. She will prioritize ​​paid sick leave for workers as well as options to increase healthcare coverage for employees of small businesses. She received the “Seal of Approval” from the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy for her support of policies that allow parents to engage in the workforce, including childcare, eldercare, and paid family and medical leave.

If elected, Norton will work to ensure healthcare is affordable and accessible. She supports policies to reign in the rising costs of healthcare, including expanded insurance policies and decreased prices of prescription drugs. She wants to see the creation and funding of patient advocacy programs so that individuals receive the care they need and are better able to navigate the complexities of medical care and insurance. She would like to see greater investment in resources and pay for healthcare workers.

Norton is running against Republican incumbent Delegate Robert S. Bloxom Jr., a business owner who has represented the 100th District in the House of Delegates for the past seven years. Bloxom received an “A” rating from the NRA and voted against universal background checks and other measures to keep communities safe from gun violence. Bloxom also voted against abolishing the death penalty, legalizing marijuana, and raising the minimum wage.

Due to her support of the environment, working families, access to affordable healthcare, and public education, Finale Norton is the most progressive choice in this race.