This election will be held on November 4, 2025. Incumbent Republican Delegate Joe McNamara faces a challenge from Democrat Donna Littlepage in HD-40.

Virginia’s House District 40 spans portions of Roanoke County, the City of Salem, and part of the City of Roanoke in Virginia’s Blue Ridge region. In the 2024 election it leaned Republican by single-digit margins.

Democrat Donna Littlepage is a lifelong Virginian. She holds a degree in accounting and an M.B.A. from Virginia Tech. Littlepage has held leadership roles at various organizations working with finance, health care, and insurance. She previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She completed the Sorensen Institute Political Leaders Program at the University of Virginia and has lived in Roanoke for the past 25 years.

Donna Littlepage advocates for investing in public education and support teachers “while keeping decision-making local”. She hopes to expand vocational training, apprenticeships, and community college programs and vows to ensure that parents and educators have a say in shaping their children’s future.

Littlepage pledges to “use [her] financial expertise to reduce wasteful spending while ensuring vital programs remain strong.” She will support small businesses and workforce development, while keeping taxes low and making “smart investments in infrastructure, education, and job training.”

Littlepage’s support for reproductive freedom indicates she would support HJ 1, which would enshrine reproductive rights in the Virginia Constitution. She stands up for reproductive freedom and ensuring personal healthcare decisions remain between patients and doctors. She supports policies that protect privacy and bodily autonomy for all Virginians.

Littlepage will fight to protect Medicaid access. She advocates for rural healthcare solutions to keep hospitals and clinics open and pledges to support mental health and addiction treatment programs.

The Opposition

Incumbent Republican Delegate Joe McNamara has served in the House of Delegates since 2018. Prior to becoming a delegate, he served as the Windsor Hills Roanoke County Supervisor. He is a small business owner and holds both a B.S. in Accounting and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Virginia. He and his wife have five children. Key legislation:
- Voted against a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the Virginia Constitution
- Voted against a Constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to returning citizens
- Voted to enshrine equal marriage rights in the Virginia Constitution
- Voted against raising teacher pay to the national average
- Voted against authorizing public colleges and universities to prohibit guns on school property
- Voted for a “forced outing” bill targeting transgender students
- Voted against a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027
- Voted against a bill to establish paid family and medical leave
- Voted against a bill to to repeal prohibitions on collective bargaining for public employees
- Voted against establishing regulatory bodies to establish a Virginia cannabis industry
- Voted against authorizing the installation of electric vehicle chargers in certain rural areas
- Voted against prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to pay extra fees
- Voted against establishing a Prescription Drug Affordability Board
- Voted against establishing the right to access and use FDA-approved birth control
- Voted against authorizing mental health experts to accompany police officers on certain calls
- Voted against a bill to prohibit the manufacture, sale, or possession of assault-style weapons
- Voted against establishing regulations for “high-risk” AI
- Voted against authorizing Ranked Choice Voting for certain local elections
- Voted against a bill that prohibits weapons in hospitals that provide mental health services

Recommendation

Based on her advocacy for quality public education and access to abortion, Donna Littlepage is the progressive candidate in this race.