Senate District 019

Virginia’s new 89th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Chesapeake City and parts of Suffolk City. With over 64,000 registered voters, this district is a competitive district that doesn’t lean in one direction or another.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Democratic candidate Karen Jenkins and Republican candidate Baxter Ennis will face each other in the general election for Virginia’s new 89th House of Delegates district. Jenkins previously served on the Suffolk City School Board. Baxter previously ran in the 2022 Chesapeake City City Council At Large race. There is no incumbent running in this race.

Karen Jenkins is a lifelong resident of the City of Suffolk and currently serves on the Suffolk School Board. Jenkins is a champion for education, public safety, and mental health. During her first term on Suffolk School Board, Jenkins participated in training and workshops to improve policies and procedures for Suffolk Public Schools. She was instrumental in developing business partnerships and programs to enhance student academic achievement and worked closely with state legislatures to gain funding for SPS.

As a mental health professional, Jenkins understands the importance of mental health resources. She pledges to advocate for legislation and funding to bring mental health awareness and resources to the district. Education is also a top priority for Jenkins. Working on the Suffolk School Board and with Suffolk Public Schools, she has a proven track record of prioritizing and putting students at the focus of our education system. In tandem with her focus on education, Jenkins believes that we all deserve to feel safe and have public safety resources available to us in our time of need. She plans to assess and modernize public safety systems in our district to meet our current and future needs. She has also received an endorsement from Planned Parenthood of Virginia.

Jenkins has the opportunity to make Virginia history. She is running for this seat at the same time as her husband, Delegate, Clint Jenkins, seeks the newly created seat in SD 17. If both were to win their respective seats, they would be the first married couple to serve contemporaneously in the state’s history.

Jenkin’s opponent is Republican City Councilman Baxter Ennis, a veteran. Councilman Ennis wants to provide unchecked funding to police. He supports a near-total abortion ban and repeats GOP lies about activists’ positions. He will do nothing about gun violence.

Despite limited available information on Karen Jenkins, the positions that she does advocate and the work she has done for public schools make her the progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 90th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Chesapeake City. With over 66,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Republican.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Incumbent Republican Delegate Jay Leftwich is facing a challenge from Democrat Jeremy Rodden in the general election for Virginia’s new 90th House of Delegates district. Delegate Leftwich has served in the House of Delegates since 2014. Rodden previously ran in the 2022 Chesapeake City School Board At Large Special General.

Jeremy Rodden is a Democratic candidate with a Master's degree in Education. He has experience as an educator with the School District of Philadelphia, JobCorps, and Together We Can Foundation. Rodden is also experienced in community service, committing time to volunteering in the City of Chesapeake as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children, soft skills educator for disconnected youth, and coach in Chesapeake Little League. Rodden is the co-founder of Pride in the 'Peake, Chesapeake's first annual Pride event.

Rodden believes in a science-driven, issues-focused approach. He plans to vote in favor of issues ranging from protection of abortion access to increased mental health awareness to LGBTQIA+ acceptance to public health emergencies. He wholeheartedly believes that experts should be consulted and trusted for the most up-to-date and accurate advice. He has been endorsed by VA LGBT+ Democrats, the Center for Freethought Equality, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, Roe Your Vote Virginia, and Equality Virginia.

Protecting the environment is also at the top of his priority list. He believes that “climate change is real and it is caused by human actions”. He argues that “we must responsibly take all measures we can to conserve our natural resources, prepare for the results of our actions (such as rising sea levels), and protect our environment for future generations.” His policy stances have earned him endorsements from Eric Holder and the NRDC, Save the Dismal, and Sierra Club.

Rodden is a staunch advocate for public education. He argues that “The most important resources we can provide for our children are the best teachers and staff. By paying them well, listening to their needs as the front-line contacts with our students, and striving for the best working conditions possible for them, we can offer our students the best education.” He is opposed to book banning efforts and calls out Republicans for demonizing teachers.

Rodden believes that government is not meant to be run in the shadows. He wants government transparency across the board and says that “all official activity by members of elected office should be easily available for public scrutiny and participation.” He believes that the Commonwealth is in dire need of campaign finance reform.

Rodden is challenging incumbent Republican Delegate Jay Leftwich, an attorney who has represented the 78th district in the House of Delegates since 2014. Since his election, Leftwich has voted against expanding Medicaid insurance coverage, raising the minimum wage, protecting insurance coverage of abortions, legalizing marijuana, and abolishing the death penalty. He also opposes keeping our communities safe by passing common sense measures to prevent gun violence.

Given his positions on public education, environmental stewardship, civil rights protection, and government transparency, Jeremy Rodden is the progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 91st House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Chesapeake City and parts of Portsmouth City. With almost 60,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Democratic.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Incumbent Democratic Delegate Cliff Hayes is facing a challenge from Republican Elijah Colon in the general election for Virginia’s new 91st House of Delegates district. Delegate Hayes has served in the House of Delegates since 2016.

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Cliff Hayes was born in Chesapeake and has represented the 77th District in the House of Delegates since 2016. With the redrawn district lines, he will now run for the 91st District. 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, Del. 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. Delegate 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.

Delegate 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. Del. 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. He voted no on HB 212, which would have reinstated mandatory waiting periods before a person can have an abortion and voted yes on SB 1276, which repeals the abortion prohibition in Virginia health insurance plans.

Delegate Hayes has supported increased school funding at all levels. He voted in favor of a budget which gave teachers a 5% raise, increased funding for school counselors and nurses, and additional money to ensure schools can safely reopen during the pandemic. Del. 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, Del. 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. Del. Hayes also fought for the historical preservation and funding for the maintenance of Black cemeteries in Chesapeake.

Delegate Hayes’ opponent is Republican Thomas Powell. We could not find any information on him at the time of research.

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 91st 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.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Incumbent Republican Delegate Karen Greenhalgh is facing a challenge from Democrat Michael Feggans in the general election for Virginia’s new 97th House of Delegates district. Delegate Greenhalgh has served in the House of Delegates since 2022.

Michael Feggans is a Virginia Beach native who graduated from Tallwood High School and enlisted in the U.S Air Force after graduation. He values education and has degrees from Virginia Tech, Norfolk State, and the University of Virginia. After 20 years of service in the Air Force, he decided to retire and become a tech entrepreneur in Virginia Beach. With the creation of the new 97th House District, Feggans is running for the House of Delegates to continue serving his community.

Feggans lists “protecting reproductive freedom and women’s rights” as the first priority on his website. He pledges to fight to safeguard and expand abortion access.He has been endorsed by Roe Your Vote Virginia.

He also lists “fighting for common sense gun safety measures to keep our communities safe” as a top priority. As a military veteran and responsible gun owner, he knows how dangerous guns can be in the wrong hands. That’s why he supports common sense solutions to curb gun violence, including expanding background checks, strengthening Virginia’s extreme risk protection order law, and bolstering safe storage requirements to keep guns out of schools and keep our communities safe. Because of these stances, he was endorsed by Giffords PAC.

Feggans pledges himself to protecting our environment and supporting renewable energy jobs to support and combat recurring flooding, sea level rise, and promote resilience in coastal Virginia. He knows that clean energy is crucially important in Virginia Beach as we face the impacts of climate change in our coastal region every day. He believes that offshore wind would bring economic and environmental benefits to this region. His positions earned him an endorsement from Sierra Club and from NRDC Action Fund.

Feggans also promises to support small businesses and entrepreneurs to create an economy that helps families and our community thrive. He says he’ll fight in Richmond to lower the costs of prescription drugs and healthcare and make housing more affordable. As a small business owner, he has personally felt the sting of rising costs and knows that a strong economy starts on Main Street. He will work to modernize processes and help to combat the issues that hold small businesses back. His language focuses on business, but he has earned an endorsement from AFL-CIO and professes support for unions.

Feggans’ opponent is incumbent Republican Delegate Karen Greenhalgh, a Virginia Beach business owner. Del. Greenhalgh became infamous in her 2021 race against Fmr. Del. Alex Askew for sending out an “overtly racist” mailer targeting her opponent. She supports restricting access to abortion by passing medically unnecessary regulations on abortion providers. She opposes the right of workers to form unions and will work to keep the state’s right-to-work law in place. She targets LGBTQ+ youth, having Sponsored HB 1387 to limit participation in women’s sports on the basis of sex assigned at birth and voted for HB 2432, which requires schools to inform parents of students experiencing "gender incongruence".

Because of his stances on healthcare and abortion, environmental protection, and gun safety, Feggans is the clear progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 98th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Virginia Beach City. With over 64,000 registered voters, this district leans strongly Republican.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Incumbent Republican Delegate Barry Knight is running unopposed in the general election for Virginia’s new 98th House of Delegates district. Delegate Knight has served in the House of Delegates since 2009.

Zachary Coltrain is a 20-year-old college student at Appalachian State University studying music therapy, where he also serves on the Speech and Debate leadership team. He was born in Virginia Beach and raised in this district over the past 19 years. Throughout high school and college, he learned how to articulate thoughts within political spaces and found his passion for speaking out against problems our community is facing.

Coltrain recognizes the importance of advocating for preserving and protecting wildlife and naturally occurring environments in Virginia Beach, particularly in the Pungo area. The district has miles of coastline, a national wildlife refuge, and hundreds of rural agricultural communities that make it lucky to have so much biodiversity. Coltrain understands that it is our responsibility to advocate for the interests of native flora and fauna. He also recognizes that the district relies heavily on the work of private and family farms that support our local community's economy. Therefore, we must balance these initiatives without disenfranchising the hundreds of farmers and preservationists doing their own important work for our ecological communities.

Coltrain recognizes that despite LGBTQIA+, AAPI, and BIPOC communities making their voices heard in the district and across the country, Virginia still lacks many statutory protections for historically marginalized groups. As a member of the queer community in Hampton Roads, Coltrain knows there is love for all individuals throughout the community, but we need to ensure this love and protection is preserved for future generations. He will fight tirelessly to ensure these groups are heard and advocate for additional protections to be codified into law, regardless of his status in the race.

Coltrain believes medical care and related services must be expanded throughout the Commonwealth, especially in rural areas. He understands the importance of expanding rehabilitation services by the state. However, simply defining these jobs in law is not providing equal access to those services. Therefore, Coltrain is committed to ensuring these services are equally accessible to all. He believes that your zip code should not determine your access to healthcare.

Coltrain supports access to abortion and recognizes the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion access to be a major wedge issue. He intends to be a voice for anyone wishing to make decisions regarding their reproductive health. Protecting these rights and allocating accessible resources to all in the Commonwealth should be a core function of the General Assembly. Coltrain wants to join the sitting delegates and expand their ideas until access to resources and reproductive care is universal.

His opponent is Incumbent Republican Delegate Barry Knight. Knight opposes keeping communities safe with common sense measures to prevent gun violence. In 2020, he voted against increasing the minimum wage and establishing the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice. This year, he voted for HB 212, which reintroduces mandatory waiting periods before a person can access abortion care. He voted NO on SB 1276, which repeals the abortion prohibition in Virginia health insurance plans.

Given Coltrain’s stances and record, he is the progressive choice in this race.

Virginia’s new 99th House of Delegates district encompasses parts of Virginia Beach City. With almost 65,000 registered voters, this district leans Republican.

This election will be held on November 7, 2023. Incumbent Republican Delegate Anne Ferrell Tata is facing a challenge from Democrat Cat Porterfield in the general election for Virginia’s new 99th House of Delegates district. Delegate Tata has served in the House of Delegates since 2022.

Cat Porterfield is a wife, mother, realtor, and accomplished journalist recognized for her work in military and local news. Her experience involves analyzing school and city budgets, closely monitoring development projects, and immersing herself in the mechanics of community functioning. She plans to inform and engage citizens, prioritize constituents' interests, and be an unbiased voice for her community. Coming from a Navy family and sharing a deep connection to Virginia Beach Public Schools through her son, she brings a personal investment in the community's success.

She has pledged to make no law or put forward any votes restricting a woman’s access to abortion and asserts that reproductive rights are on the ballot in November. Fighting for reproductive rights is the top priority on her website. Her stances have earned her an endorsement from Roe Your Vote Virginia and another from Vote Pro-Choice. Her commitment to affordable healthcare access echoes her position on this issue.

Porterfield supports a multifaceted approach to gun violence prevention that involves several elements: fostering community healing, encouraging positive masculinity, providing summer employment for at-risk teens, employing street intervention experts, utilizing professional violence interrupters, enacting measures to disarm domestic abusers, ensuring scrutiny when a legal gun purchase fails a background check, and establishing accountability measures for law enforcement officers.

Her pledge to protect communities extends to issues of equality. She has called out her opponent for inserting her personal religious beliefs into her politics and promises that she will protect the LGBTQ+ community. She wants to keep Republicans’ hands off schools and teachers and likens their attempts at book banning to the disastrous No Child Left Behind policy. Additionally, she abhors Republicans’ attempts to force gender conformity onto students and teachers.

She understands the importance of sustainable, clean water and acknowledges the threat of sea level rise. She pledges to propose and support measures to decrease water pollution, safeguard wetlands and water bodies, and encourage responsible water usage. Additionally, she aims to boost the adoption of eco-friendly transportation choices. She is committed to promoting sustainable agriculture, including supporting the growth and sale of marijuana. She opposes reversing marijuana decriminalization and intends to aid farmers in entering the industry through programs and incentives akin to tobacco farming support in the past, recognizing marijuana's medicinal value.

Incumbent Republican Delegate Anne Ferrell Tata is a medical sales representative, author, and wife of a Navy veteran. Tata voted for HB 212, which requires reinstating the mandatory waiting period before a person can get an abortion. She was a co-sponsor for HB 1387, which prevents trans kids from playing sports.

Given Porterfield’s stances and record, she is the clear progressive choice in this race.