House District 080

Former Democratic Delegate Lashresce Aird served in the House of Delegates from 2016 to 2022. Her election made her the youngest woman elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Aird earned her undergraduate and doctorate degrees from Virginia State University. She is a graduate of the Sorenson Political Leadership Program at the University of Virginia and the Minority Political Leadership Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a trusted community leader in Petersburg where she and her husband are raising two sons.

Aird is committed to criminal justice reform. She successfully carried legislation that bans the use and purchase of facial recognition technology by all local law enforcement agencies and campus police without explicit authorization from the state. Aird sponsored “Breonna’s Law,” which bans police from using no-knock warrants to enter and search a home without notifying the resident. She voted to abolish the death penalty and legalize marijuana in 2021 as well.

Aird also successfully sponsored historic legislation that recognizes racism as a public health crisis in Virginia. This bill will implement a series of policies geared towards addressing systemic racism in Virginia. She advocates for access to affordable, quality healthcare by working to lower drug costs and voting to cap the price of insulin in 2020. She voted to expand Medicaid to 400,000 Virginians in 2018 and supported establishing a state-run health insurance marketplace, which helps uninsured or underinsured residents who aren’t covered by an employer-provided health plan to get affordable coverage.

Aird understands the urgency of the climate crisis and is focused on passing legislation to protect the environment. She advocates for equitable energy by successfully sponsoring legislation to make access to clean, affordable water a human right in 2021. She voted for the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which commits the Commonwealth to 100% clean energy by 2050. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters awarded her a score of 100% for the 2020 session.

Aird supports Virginia’s public education system, voting for a 5% raises for teachers and additional funding to help schools reopen safely during the pandemic. She worked to pass legislation that would make higher education more equitable for applicants by banning public universities from asking criminal history questions on admissions applications. The delegate also co-sponsored the School Equity and Staffing Act, which would address spending discrepancies between schools in low income communities versus other communities. She was named one of the Legislators of the Year in 2021 by the Virginia Education Association.

Democratic candidate Lashrecse Aird and Republican candidate Eric Ditri will face each other in the general election for Virginia’s new 13th State Senate district. Ditri was born and raised in Prince George County and has a background in construction and finance. While his campaign website lists several priorities, no information could be found on his stances on progressive issues such as abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Due to her support of criminal justice reform, public education, affordable healthcare, and the environment, Lashrecse Aird is the progressive choice in this race.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Lamont Bagby is running unopposed in the general election for Virginia’s new 14th State Senate district. He was born and raised in Richmond and later earned degrees at both Norfolk State and Virginia Commonwealth University. Before being elected to the Senate in a special election, he served in the House of Delegates from 2015 until 2023. 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. He serves as chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.

As chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, Senator Bagby 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.

Senator 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, Sen. 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, Senator 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.

Due to his track record for supporting progressive legislation, Senator Lamont Bagby is the sole progressive candidate in this race.

Note: Portions of this write-up came from a previous Progressive Voters Guide recommendation for this candidate.