Tara Anne Durant (born October 26, 1972) is an American politician who is a member 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-numbe ...

from the 28th district. Elected in November 2021, she assumed office on January 12, 2022. She is a Republican.

Early life and education

Durant was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

in 1972. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and political science from

Coe College Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associat ...

and attended the

University of Baltimore School of Law The University of Baltimore School of Law, or the UB School of Law, is one of the four colleges that make up the University of Baltimore, which is part of the University System of Maryland. The UBalt School of Law is one of only two law schools i ...

Career

Outside of politics, Durant has worked as an educator in Iowa and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. She was a teacher at the Holy Cross Academy in Stafford County from 2017 to 2021 and works as a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

at the school. She was elected to the

in November 2021, defeating incumbent Democrat Joshua G. Cole. She assumed office on January 12, 2022.

Controversy

Durant prompted her entry into politics by claiming she and her daughter were attacked by an "angry mob" of Black Lives Matter protesters. However, Durant's narrative has proved inconsistent. Police records describe the protest as peaceful, with an aggressive car pointing in the direction of protesters at the same location as Durant's. Additionally, Durant's 911 call indicates she threatened to hit protesters with her car as well as a person on her car's hood was a 13-year-old, unrelated to the protest. Durant's attempt to press charges against two teenagers, one of which that was not at the protest, for car assault failed, raising questions about the accuracy of her narrative. Durant and her staff have ignored calls to respond to these inconsistencies and allegations.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Durant, Tara 1972 births 21st-century American educators 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American women politicians Coe College alumni Living people People from Stafford County, Virginia Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Republican Party Virginia state senators Schoolteachers from Virginia Women state legislators in Virginia