Virginia's 51st House of Delegates district, in

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

, elects one of the 100 members 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 ...

, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. The 51st district has been represented by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Briana Sewell Briana D. Sewell (born 1990) is an American politician serving as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 51st district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected in 2021 to succeed retiring Democrat Hala Ayal ...

since 2022.

District officeholders

Electoral history

In December 2020, Briana Sewell announced her intention to run for Delegate of District 51. She is endorsed by Hala Ayala, the district's current delegate who is vacating the seat to run for Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, a move announced in July 2020. She is also endorsed by U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly, with whom she has worked in the past. Briana served as Chief of Staff to the Prince William County Chair At-Large, Ann Wheeler, and was previously the Political Director and Senior Organizer for the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy. According to her candidate website, Briana earned her Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from American University. She is running as a Democrat.

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Rich Anderson represented District 51 from 2010 to 2018. In November 2017, he was defeated by

Hala Ayala Hala S. Ayala (born 1973) is an American politician who represented the 51st district in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 to 2022. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election, losing to Repub ...

in an election where the

Medicaid expansion In the context of American public healthcare policy, Medicaid coverage gap refers to uninsured people who reside in states which have opted out of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), who are both ineligible for Medicaid unde ...

figured significantly; Anderson opposed while Ayala supported the policy, which ultimately passed, making an additional 14,000 Prince William County residents eligible for the low-income health insurance program. Anderson declared his candidacy to challenge Ayala in 2019. Ayala retired to run for lieutenant governor she went on to lose the general election. She was succeeded by Briana Sewell to represent the district.

References

External links

* Virginia House of Delegates districts Prince William County, Virginia {{Virginia-stub