Senate District 014

Virginia’s new 77th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Richmond City and parts of Chesterfield County. With almost 55,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Democratic.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Democratic candidate Michael Jones is running unopposed in the general election for Virginia’s new 77th House of Delegates district. He previously served in the Richmond City Council District 9 seat.

Richmond City Councilman Mike Jones is the son of a Navy SEAL and proud Richmonders who taught him to overcome any obstacles that life can throw your way. He graduated from Maggie Walker Governor’s School. His parents taught him to never judge someone based on the superficial aspects because of what they witnessed growing up in a segregated Richmond. For most of his life, Jones has channeled the values taught to him to fight for the rights of others. He has been about the people.

Jones knows that climate change is real and that we must take action to reduce emissions and protect the public health of Richmond citizens. He believes that it is unacceptable that Richmond has some of the highest rates of asthma in the country and flooding in our neighborhoods. He also understands the need for environmental justice, as some parts of the 77th district are 10% hotter than others. He believes that we need to fight at the state level for tree canopies, greenspace, and improvements to the James River Park System. Jones has taken a pledge not to take any campaign contributions from Dominion Energy and has been endorsed by Sierra Club.

Jones has garnered a reputation of fighting for the streets. Black, White or Brown, he has sought to amplify the voices of those that are too often overlooked. In a part of the City that has been left out of so many conversations, Jones has a way of matching problems with legislation. He has shown his ability to lead during tough times by chairing the Council’s Finance Committee, calling for more fiscal responsibility. He is willing to say what so many are afraid to say in a tone of empathy and compassion. Jones tries to educate and inform while others might seek to alienate.

As a Black man, Jones knows people of color are over-represented in the criminal justice system and underrepresented in elected office. We need to rectify some of the wrongs of the past, but more importantly, stop the next generation from being pulled into the system. Jones wants to slow the school-to-prison pipeline, reform policing, help returning citizens get into the workforce, and eliminate mandatory minimum sentences. On the city council, Jones led the fight to gain local control of the Confederate Monuments in the City of Richmond. Standing alone, he endured backlash and death threats. That did not stop him. He is leading the charge for more accountability with Law Enforcement seeking to move to a true form of public safety.

Jones also supports access to abortion and feels strongly that the government should never limit access to or prevent someone from making their own reproductive choices. He also wants to give kids a pathway to the middle class by providing jobs with good benefits, a $15/hr minimum wage, and creating a great economy that works for everyone.

Councilman Jones is running unopposed, but given his stance on criminal justice reform, climate change, and racial justice, he is decidedly the progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 78th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Richmond City. With over 68,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Democratic.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Incumbent Democratic Delegate Betsy Carr is running unopposed in the general election for Virginia’s new 78th House of Delegates district. Delegate Carr has served in the House of Delegates since 2010.

Incumbent Delegate Betsy Carr was first elected in 2009. Before serving in the legislature, she was a director of outreach for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond. Additionally, she helped found the Micah Initiative, which connects faith communities and city elementary schools to provide mentors, tutors, and volunteers. She also served on the Richmond School Board and worked for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She is a grandmother of six and a mother of three.

Delegate Carr understands the urgency of the climate crisis and is working to tackle the issue in the Commonwealth. She was a patron of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which commits Virginia to using 100% renewable energy by 2050. She successfully sponsored legislation that prohibits food vendors from using harmful styrofoam food containers by 2025. She also voted in favor of tax rebates for electric vehicles. Additionally, she introduced a budget amendment to fund an urban green space at the Science Museum of Virginia.

Del. Carr is also an advocate for tenant rights and affordable housing. During COVID, she passed a bill allowing tenants to prevent their landlord from entering their home for non-emergency maintenance during a pandemic. She also worked to expand the Virginia Fair Housing Law to ensure individuals with disabilities can request accessible parking at their homes. She also helped introduce new tools for local governments to transform unused properties into affordable housing opportunities.

Del. Carr supports legislation to strengthen working families. She voted in favor of raising the minimum wage and 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. She supported the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights in 2021. She also is in favor of providing paid family and medical leave and ensuring childcare and eldercare are affordable.

Del. Carr voted for critical criminal justice reforms in Virginia. She was a patron of the bill to abolish the death penalty. During the 2021 Virginia General Assembly session, she supported marijuana legalization, ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officers, and establishing a process of automatic expungement of certain criminal records. She also supported legislation requiring racial and ethnic impact statements for any form of criminal justice legislation to ensure the legislation being passed is equitable.

Del. Carr is running unopposed, but her record on criminal justice, tenant’s rights, and environmental justice prove that she remains a stalwart progressive champion.

Virginia’s new 79th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Richmond City. With almost 63,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Democratic.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Democratic candidate Rae Cousins is running unopposed in the general election for Virginia’s new 79th House of Delegates district. There is no incumbent in this race.

Rae Cousins is a lawyer and candidate for the House of Delegates. She graduated from The College of William & Mary and Howard University School of Law. Cousins has worked at BrownGreer, a local law firm in Richmond, where she manages the administration of multi-million- and billion-dollar settlement programs for people injured by harmful drugs and medical devices and environmental disasters. She has a passion for voter registration and has worked on voter registration drives throughout the city. Cousins is endorsed by Governor Ralph Northam, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Delegate Jay Jones, and many other organizations and unions, including the Working Families Party, Bold Progressives, and the National Women's Political Caucus of Virginia.

Cousins promises to be a strong voice for tenants’ rights. Her plans to enhance tenants' rights include increasing the inventory of affordable housing and supporting people who want to stay in their communities despite rising tax revenues and costs of living. She also seeks to keep utility prices down and address environmental hazards that disproportionately affect low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. To achieve this, she plans to ensure more urban green space, invest in clean energy, and fight for transparency and community input in the decisions behind new development projects.

With the Commonwealth one election away from bans on abortion access, Cousins understands that the time is now to enshrine reproductive rights into law. She will advocate for the right to an abortion and the use of contraceptive methods, and she will be a champion for reproductive health on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates. She also aims to expand affordable quality healthcare for all Virginians and promote preventative healthcare, access to fresh and healthy foods, and enhanced maternal health care services. She supports or sponsors legislation aimed at ensuring paid family and medical leave and will not compromise with Republicans seeking to dismantle public healthcare for low-income Virginians and the elderly.

Cousins believes that all Virginians deserve to feel safe in our neighborhoods. As Delegate, she will work to enhance sensible gun violence prevention measures to keep our streets safe. She will also work to eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline, invest in after-school enrichment programs, provide funding for programs that support individuals with felony convictions as they reenter society, and work with community stakeholders and law enforcement to implement data driven policies that cut to the root cause of crime in our neighborhoods.

As a lawyer committed to equal justice, Cousins understands that a good education is the foundation for economic opportunity. She is committed to defending public education and to renewing our commitment to our students by modernizing technology and maintaining our school buildings. As delegate, Cousins will defend public education from Gov. Youngkin’s so-called “school choice” policies, which amount to defunding our public schools. Cousins is also committed to securing funding for career and technical skills training for Richmond’s young people, universal pre-K and early childhood care, and increased teacher pay. She will work to ensure that all students, regardless of their gender or sexual identity, feel at home in Virginia.

There are no other candidates on the ballot in this race, but given Cousins’ commitment to ensuring access to healthcare for all Virginians, her support of common sense gun violence prevention legislation, and her advocacy for tenant’s rights, Cousins is decidedly the progressive choice. This recommendation remains in line with Progress Virginia’s endorsement of Cousins in the Democratic primary.

Virginia’s new 80th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Henrico City. With over 61,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Democratic.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Democratic candidate Destiny LeVere Bolling is running unopposed in the general election for Virginia’s new 80th House of Delegates district. This is her first general election.

Destiny LeVere Bolling is the Communications Director at Virginia AFL-CIO and chairs the Virginia Conference NAACP's Labor and Industry Committee. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, International Relations, and Latin American Iberian Studies, and a Master of Arts in International Affairs. She has completed the Emerge Virginia program and serves on Virginia's Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Commission. She is also the Secretary of the board of The Commonwealth Institute and directs her mentorship program "Destined to Be Mentorship Program."

Bolling's top priority if elected to the Virginia House of Delegates is to expand access to quality, affordable healthcare, especially for children and older adults. She aims to lower the cost of prescription drugs, expand notice and education on available care resources, streamline the process for obtaining proper certifications for home healthcare providers, enhance access to incentives for caregivers, increase funding for grants and expand access to resources for older adults, and leverage community partnerships to improve access to services for individuals in need.

Since she works at the Virginia AFL-CIO, Bolling deeply understands the struggles of working families. She has fought for equal, equitable, and safe worker rights and protections for all Virginians. She aims to improve the lives of her community by fighting for higher wages, better working conditions, comprehensive benefits, and access to opportunity. Bolling plans to protect minimum wage increases, expand unemployment insurance, ensure equitable safety and health protections on the job, increase funding for worker training programs, and build on Virginia's collective bargaining law to ensure everyone has a fair shot.

Bolling believes in building an equitable, restorative justice system where every person affected by the actions of people in the position she seeks must have a voice, including those who have paid their debts to society after being convicted of a crime. She aims to hold Governor Youngkin accountable for rolling back the restoration of rights process, assist constituents in their efforts to get their rights restored, and work with her colleagues to pass a resolution allowing for voters to consider a constitutional amendment to guarantee the automatic restoration of voting rights.

Bolling aims to build the strongest public schools in the nation and provide every child access to a top-notch public education. She plans to raise teacher pay, improve staffing ratios, increase access to reading and math volunteers and specialists, end the school-to-prison pipeline, ensure access to pre-K, increase funding for apprenticeship programs, expand vocational and technical education curricula, engage students and parents about career pathways and college funding opportunities, offer diverse career fair opportunities, and invest in incentives for individuals interested in becoming an educator in the Commonwealth.

Bolling’s only opponent in the race is Independent Michael Harned. At the time of research, we could find no information on his positions.

Because of her commitments to providing healthcare, advocating for workers’ rights, and building an equitable justice system, Bolling is the progressive choice in this race.