Senate District 036

Incumbent Delegate Karrie Delaney has represented the 67th District since 2018. The daughter of a U.S. Army veteran, Delaney earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Florida. She served on the West Melbourne City Council in Florida before moving to Northern Virginia. She works as the Communications Director of Shared Hope International, a non-profit dedicated to ending sex trafficking. She and her husband live in Fairfax where they are raising two children.

Delaney wants to boost working families so they can live with dignity in Virginia by supporting innovative economic development to create well-paid jobs. She voted to increase the minimum wage and give municipal workers collective bargaining rights. She supported keeping protections for tenants during the pandemic in place so that people have more rights to stay in their homes. She also voted for the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which extends standard labor protections to domestic workers and guarantees them a minimum wage.

As a member of a Parent Teacher Association, Delaney believes that strong, fully-funded schools are the backbone to thriving communities. She voted for a 5% teacher pay raise in 2021 along with additional funding to help school reopen safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. She advocates for reduced classroom sizes and full-day kindergarten to bolster students’ academic success. She also wants to provide the best resources, textbooks, and supplies to all classrooms in the district.

Delaney supports protecting the environment and sees the unique opportunity in using the Northern Virginia technology corridor to promote energy independence in the Commonwealth. She successfully sponsored legislation in 2020 to remove restrictions on the production of residential solar energy. She also voted for the Virginia Clean Economy Act the same year, which commits Virginia to 100% clean energy by 2050. She also advocated for Virginia’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in 2020, which combats climate change and reduces carbon emissions.

Delany believes in guaranteeing access to quality, affordable health insurance to all Virginians. She voted to expand Medicaid to nearly 750,000 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. She has worked to lower drug costs, voting to cap the price of insulin in 2020. She also supports abortion access and voted to repeal medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers.

Delaney is facing a challenge from Nhan Huynh a Republican, veteran, and first generation immigrant who earned a degree in engineering at Virginia Tech University. Huynh’s wants to increase funding for police officers with no accountability for police brutality. Huynh would support untrained parents making decisions about school curriculums rather than educational experts who have been the filed for years.

Due to her support of working families, public education, the environment, and access to affordable healthcare, Delaney is the most progressive candidate in this election.

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Dan Helmer was first elected in 2019. The son of an immigrant and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, Helmer graduated from West Point Military Academy in 2003. He is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he was also deployed to South Korea. Currently a member of the Army Reserve, Helmer runs a small business where he helps veterans access healthcare. Del. Helmer lives in Fairfax County with his wife and two sons.

As the husband of a public school teacher, Delegate Helmer wants to increase funding for Virginia’s education system. He supports raising teacher salaries to prevent turnover, reducing classroom size, allocating more resources to our educators and students to better set them up for success. In 2021, he voted for providing additional resources to students and parents in kindergarten through third grade who are struggling with reading. He also supported giving additional funding to Virginia schools so that they can reopen safely during the pandemic.

Delegate Helmer believes that climate change is the greatest threat that Virginians are facing and wants to guarantee access to clean water and air. He understands that Virginians need to reduce their carbon footprint and find more sustainable energy sources. He believes that part of doing this involves an immediate stop to the construction of new pipelines and fracking. Del. Helmer was a chief co-patron of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which commits Virginia to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Del. Helmer is an advocate for reproductive rights and believes that Virginians should have access to abortion when they need it. The delegate has supported legislation that would provide access to reproductive healthcare that includes cancer screenings, birth control, and safe and legal abortions. In 2020, he voted to repeal medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care providers. He also supported making abortion coverage available on the state health insurance exchange in 2021.

Del. Helmer supports making the promise of democracy real for us all by ensuring that our elections are free and accessible. He voted for same-day voter registration and making absentee voting easier by providing for prepaid postage on ballots, eliminating the need for a witness signature, and establishing no-excuse absentee voting in the Commonwealth. Del. Helmer also supported extending early voting and the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits voter discrimination at the polls.

Delegate Helmer is being challenged by Republican candidate James Thomas. Thomas graduated from the University of Dayton in Ohio and is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Thomas would rather untrained parents be in charge of the curriculum for our schools rather than education and curriculum experts. He also champions increasing funding for law enforcement and public safety despite the ever growing evidence that shows law enforcement’s inability to keep communities of color safe.

Considering his support of public education, abortion access, the environment and voting access, Delegate Dan Helmer is the most progressive choice in this race.

Incumbent Delegate David Bulova has represented the 37th District since 2006. He and his wife, Gretchen, live in Fairfax County with their three children. He received his Master of Public Administration and Policy from Virginia Tech. He is also a graduate of the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. When not in session, Delegate Bulova works as a project manager for a local company, helping local governments and industries comply with state and federal environmental regulations.

Del. Bulova’s priorities around education include reducing class sizes and retaining and recruiting qualified teachers. As a member of the House of Delegates Education Committee, he worked to reform Virginia’s Standards of Learning and successfully introduced legislation in 2017 that promotes career and technical education opportunities. In 2020, he also sponsored the Early Childhood Care and Education Act that would work to improve early childhood education. He also voted for a 5% pay increase for teachers in 2021.

Del. Bulova considers it his responsibility to fight for the environment and renewable energy sources. He successfully sponsored legislation aimed at eliminating waste and toxins in our water and protecting it from agricultural runoff. Del. Bulova was recognized by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters for championing the environment. In 2020, he voted for the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which commits the state to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Del. Bulova prioritizes making access to healthcare affordable to all Virginians. He cast a crucial vote in expanding Medicaid to nearly 750,000 Virginians in 2018. He voted to lower the cost of prescription medicine by capping the cost of insulin at $50. He also voted to create a state-run health insurance marketplace exchange. The exchange would focus mostly on enrolling uninsured or underinsured residents who aren’t covered by an employer-provided health plan.

Delegate Bulova is a strong supporter of equality throughout the Commonwealth. He voted for the Virginia Values Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment and housing along the lines of sexual orientation and gender identity. He also supports abortion access and voted to repeal medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers in 2020. Additionally, he supported making health insurance plans with abortion coverage available on the state marketplace exchange.

Del. Bulova is being challenged by Republican candidate Almira Mohammed. Mohoammed wants to use her platform to increase police funding, despite their ongoing failing efforts to establish peace and deesculate dangerous situations. She also opposes accurate history teaching in schools, pledging to fight to instate legislation with limited partisan politics being imposed on students. She also supports gun-rights and opposes common sense gun laws making her a dangerous choice for the Commonwealth.

Due to his support of the environment, public education, healthcare, abortion access and equality, Delegate David Bulova is the most progressive choice in this race.