The 160th Virginia General Assembly, consisting of members who were elected in both the 2017 House election and 2015 Senate election, convened on January 9, 2018. Republicans held one-seat majorities in both chambers, losing 17 seats in the House.

Membership

In the 2017 election, 25 women were elected to the House of Delegates, breaking the previous record of 19 that was set in 2013. On January 1, 2019,

Eileen Filler-Corn Eileen Robin Filler-Corn (born June 5, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates from January to April 2022, a position she previously held from 2019 to 2020. She previously s ...

became Leader of the House Democratic Caucus, succeeding David Toscano. She is the first woman to lead a caucus in the 400-year history of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

. In addition, in the 13th district, Democratic candidate

Danica Roem Danica Anthony Roem ( ; born September 30, 1984) is an American journalist and politician of the Democratic Party. In the 2017 Virginia elections she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, winning the Democratic primary for the 13th di ...

became the first openly transgender candidate to be elected and serve in a state legislative body in the United States. In the 21st and 42nd districts, respectively, Democratic candidates

Kelly Fowler Kelly Convirs-Fowler is an American politician. Since 2018, she has served in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing district 21. She was first elected in November 2017. Fowler's legislative priorities include finding bipartisan solutio ...

and

Kathy Tran Kathy Tran (born 1978) is an American politician who currently serves in the Virginia House of Delegates. A Democrat, she has represented the 42nd House of Delegates district since 2018. Early life and career Born in Vietnam, Tran and her p ...

became the first Asian American women elected to the House of Delegates. Democratic candidates Elizabeth Guzmán and Hala Ayala were elected to 31st and 51st districts, respectively, to also become the first two Hispanic women elected to the House of Delegates. In the 68th district, Democratic candidate

Dawn M. Adams Dawn Marie Adams (born November 6, 1964) is an American politician serving as the Delegate from the 68th District of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2018. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Adams is a nurse practitioner and small ...

became the first openly lesbian candidate to be elected to the House of Delegates.

Legislation

In the aftermath of the 2019 Virginia Beach shooting, Governor

Ralph Northam Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

called for a special session of the Virginia Legislature in order for it to consider different gun-control bills. The House of Delegates reconvened on July 9, 2019 only for it to adjourn again after 90 minutes of session. This decision was made on a party-line vote. Northam expressed his disappointment that no gun-control measures were considered. Speaker of the House of

Kirk Cox Marvin Kirkland Cox (born August 17, 1957) is an American retired politician and educator. A Republican and a former high school teacher, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1990 to 2022, representing the 66th District. From 2018 to ...

called the special session "just an election year stunt". He criticized the Democrats' focus on gun-control bills without considering mental health and penalization of crimes.

References

{{Virginia General Assemblies Government of Virginia Virginia legislative sessions 2018 in Virginia 2018 U.S. legislative sessions 2019 in Virginia 2019 U.S. legislative sessions

Membership

Legislation

See also

References