Senate District 039

Delegate Lopez has represented the 49th District since 2012 and has advocated for progressive causes his entire career. The son of an undocumented father from Venezuela, Lopez attended Vassar College and Tulane University Law School. He served as an appointee in the Obama administration and in Senator Tim Kaine’s office. In the House of Delegates, he serves as the Minority Whip of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. He currently lives with his wife and two sons in Arlington.

As the founder and co-chair of the Virginia Latino Caucus, Delegate Lopez is a dedicated advocate for immigrant rights. He was critical to the passage of a bill to expandin-state college tuition and financial aid to all Virginia students, regardless of immigration status. He also helped pass legislation allowing undocumented Virginians to receive IDs and driver privilege cards. During the 2021 legislative session, Lopez carried legislation to expand emergency Medicaid to undocumented immigrants so that they could receive testing, treatment, and vaccination for COVID-19.

Lopez also fights to ensure Virginia remains affordable for people to live in and a great place to work. He created the Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which has been critical to preventing evictions and providing rental assistance for families, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. He voted for legislation strengthening the rights of tenants and to increase Virginia’s minimum wage. He supports protecting workers’ rights by repealing Virginia’s right-to-work laws, which undermine the strength of unions, and voted for collective bargaining rights for Virginia public employees.

Lopez works to expand environmental protections and options for renewable energy in Virginia, serving as the founder and co-chair of the Virginia Environment and Renewable Energy Caucus. He helped pass the Virginia Clean Economy Act and the Solar Freedom Act, which are critical to moving the Commonwealth to 100% clean energy. He helped pass the Virginia Green Jobs Tax Credit, incentivizing job creation in renewable energy and electric vehicles. He worked to increase funding for the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund and the Agricultural Best Management Practices program which work to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

Del. Lopez also advocates for making the promise of democracy real for us all by expanding voting access to all Virginia voters. He voted for the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. He helped expand access to absentee voting and passed legislation that allows 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote. He voted to extend early voting in Virginia and remove the requirement for an excuse to cast an absentee ballot. He supports voting rights restoration for returning citizens.

Delegate Lopez is running against conservative Independent Mike Webb. Though not much is available on his actual stance on the issues, we were able to find out that Webb, is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1988. With experience as a conservative advocate, he served in the United States Army from 1990 to 2010. Webb is associated with organizations such as the Army and Navy Club and the 75th Ranger Regiment Association.

Due to his support of immigrants, working families, the environment, and voting rights, Delegate Lopez is the most progressive choice in this race.

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker served as the vice mayor of Alexandria and was the youngest woman elected to Alexandria’s city council before becoming a Delegate. She attended Cornell University and the University of London. She served on Alexandria’s Community Criminal Justice Board and Commission on Employment. She also runs a small business that targets food insecurity and co-leads a nonprofit job training and personal development program for underserved women. She and her husband live in Alexandria with their two rescue pets.

As a Delegate, Bennett-Parker expanded access to early childhood education by securing additional funding and supporting zoning changes to increase the number of education facilities in the city. She co-patroned policies to improve school education, such as HB1423 which lays down the duties and principles of the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education. She also copatroned HB1526, which sets up literary measures for students performance with provisions and protocols to aid students who are below standard. Delegate Bennett-Parker supports raising teacher pay and advancing universal school meal programs that deliver healthy food to Virginia students.

Delegate Bennett-Parker helps to boost Virginia working families by voting for paid family and medical leave so that people don’t have to choose between a paycheck or taking care of a loved one or themselves if they are sick. She aims to raise revenue for the Commonwealth by making sure that the huge corporations, millionaires,and billionaires that have benefited from our community are paying their fair share too. She also wants to ensure that minorities and women are prioritized in opportunities for new businesses. Del. Bennett-Parker patroned HB1924 requiring employers to pay their employees with disabilities at least minimum wage as well as supported a retail and small business owner grant program with her sponsorship of HB476. Del. Bennett-Parker shows dedication to the workforce making her an ideal candidate.

Delegate Bennett-Parker understands the urgency of the climate crisis and sponsored a resolution on the Alexandria City Council calling the climate crisis an emergency. She worked to ensure that all new construction in the city has zero carbon emissions and that property owners have access to tools to make energy improvements. She co-patroned HB1742, a policy that will equip students with the environmental literacy needed to help keep our community safe. Delegate Bennett-Parker also co-patroned HB1510, a policy that incentivises the preservation and restoration of urban green spaces. Additionally, she co-patroned HB1721, which created a policy for the study of microplastics found in our drinking water.

As chair of the Virginia Railway Express, Delegate Bennett-Paker is aware of the region’s transportation needs. Bennet-Parker wants to modernize and expand transportation infrastructure in Northern Virginia so that people have more options and mobility. With this in mind, Delegate Bennett-Parker co-patroned the Transit RIdership Incentive program a policy instrunting the Commonwealth Transportation Board to set aside money to improve transportation in Virginia. She also recognizes that the district suffers from an affordable housing crisis. As a Delegate, she voted to increase funding for affordable housing and expand the number of affordable housing units as well as supporting various policies to protect tennent rights. Climate change has made flooding issues worse for her district and Del. Bennett-Parker’s chief co-patron of HB602 detailed her plan to work with the General Assembly to secure more funding for stormwater infrastructure in the district.

Delegate Bennett-Parker is running unopposed, and due to her support of public education, the environment, Virginia working families, and improved transportation infrastructure, Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker is the most progressive choice in this race.