The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

based in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, the first gubernatorial election in Virginia in which the governor was elected by direct popular vote, 34 Virginia Governors have been Democrats. Since the 1851 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election, the first lieutenant gubernatorial election in Virginia in which the lieutenant governor was elected by direct popular vote, 29 Virginia Lieutenant Governors have been Democrats. Since the 1851 Virginia Attorney General election, the first Attorney General election in Virginia in which the Attorney General was elected by direct popular vote, 25 Attorneys General have been Democrats. As of 2022, Democrats hold majorities in the Senate chamber of the state legislature, controlling 21 of 40

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

seats. At the federal level, Virginia has voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Democrats hold seven of the state's 11

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

seats and both of the state's

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

seats.

Organization

Local Democratic Committees

Local Democratic Committees serve to promote the Democratic Party in their specific locality. Some committees may contain several localities. Local committees may endorse candidates for nonpartisan office (such as school board) and assist in campaigning for their candidate.

Central Committee

The Central Committee has full control over all matters of the Party, including the adoption of an annual budget, the method of nomination for statewide candidates such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General; the adoption of resolutions and policy statements. In addition, the Central Committee can veto any decision of the Steering Committee. The Central Committee meets at least four times a year, usually in Richmond, although by tradition, the September meeting is in Fredericksburg. Central Committee meetings are accompanied by meetings of the Steering Committee the night before, and Caucus meetings over the weekend. The Central Committee is composed of 20 members from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts. Each district apportions the central committee seats to localities in the district based on population. Additionally, each district committee can elect three more members from local committees and one member of the Virginia General Assembly. The Central Committee is "reorganized" every four years following the election for Governor. The last reorganization was held in March of 2022. In addition, the following people are ex-officio members of the Central Committee and their District Committees: * Members of the steering committee * Democratic Virginia members of the United States Congress * Democratic statewide elected officials, such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General * the President Pro Tempore of the Virginia Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates, provided they are Democrats * the Democratic Leaders of the Virginia House and Senate * the Chairs of the Democratic Caucuses in Virginia the House and Senate * the president, national committeeman, and national committeewoman of the Virginia Young Democrats * the president and first vice president of the Women's Caucus * the chair of the Association of Democratic Elected Officials * the chair of the Virginia Young Democrats Teen Caucus * the chair of the Virginia Young Democrats College Caucus * and the chair of the Virginia Young Democrats City/County Caucus

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee makes decisions about the Party in-between meetings of the Central Committee, and also has an exclusive role of overseeing staff. * Chairwoman:

Susan Swecker Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

* 1st Vice Chair for Organization: Gaylene Kanoyton * 2nd Vice Chair for Rules and Resolutions: Marc Broklawsk * Vice Chair for Technology and Communications: Ricardo Alfaro * Vice Chair for Outreach: Sen. L. Louise Lucas * Vice Chair for Finance: Clarence Tong * Secretary: Isaac Sarver * Treasurer: Abbi Easter * DNC Member: Del. Joshua Cole * DNC Member: Doris Crouse-Mays * DNC Member: Elizabeth Guzman * DNC Member: Dave Leichtman * DNC Member: Atima Omara * DNC Member: Mayor

Levar Stoney Levar Marcus Stoney (born March 20, 1981) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 80th mayor of Richmond, Virginia. He served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016, the youngest membe ...

* 1st Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Dianne Carter de Mayo * 2nd Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Sandra Brandt * 3rd Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Charles Stanton * 4th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Alexsis Rodgers * 5th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Patricia Harper Tunley * 6th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Kym Crump * 7th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Matt Rowe * 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Margo Horner * 9th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Mary Lynn Tate * 10th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Zach Pruckowski * 11th Congressional District Democratic Committee Chair: Robert Haley * Labor Caucus Chair: Julie Hunter * Associations of Local Chairs Chair: Tina Winkler * Democratic Black Caucus Chair: EJ Scott * Women's Caucus Chair: Linda Brooks * LGBT Democrats of Virginia Chair: Maggie Sacra * Veterans and Military Families Caucus Chair: Derek Kitts * Virginia Young Democrats President: Denver Supinger * DisAbility Caucus Chair: Cyliene Montgomery * Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia Chair: Praveen Meyyan * Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia President: Jonathan Dromgoole * Rural Caucus Chair: Vee Frye * Small Business Caucus Chair: Mark Cannady * Immediate Past Chair: Dwight Jones

Staff

* Executive Director: Andrew Whitley *

Communications Director Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...

: Gianni Snidle * Deputy Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer: Brenner Tobe * Data Director: Katie O'Grady * Digital Director: Nick Scott * Finance Director: Randy Sprinkle * Chief Operations Officer: Elise Vess * Operations Director: Kristi Glass * Political Director: Shyam Raman * Local Elections Director: Tierra Ward * Training Director: Kiana Ham * Voter Protection Director: Ja'Scotta Jefferson

Fairfax County Democratic Committee

The Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) is the local arm of the

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

. It is the largest Democratic committee in Virginia, with Fairfax County representing over 17% of the Democratic vote in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

in Virginia. In recent years, Democrats have dominated Fairfax County politics, holding 57 of the 59 local, state, and national offices representing the county. Its counterpart is the Fairfax County Republican Committee. The Fairfax County Democratic Committee is led by a chair, elected following elections in odd-numbered years. FCDC also has a one-person staff consisting of an Executive Director, who runs the day-to-day operations of the committee. The current chair is Bryan Graham, and the current Executive Director is Jack Kiraly. The steering committee consists of the county-wide elected elected vice chairs, chairs of district committees, and chairs of standing committees and caucuses. It also contains members of the Democratic Party of Virginia steering committee who live in Fairfax County. The steering committee meets monthly to handle more urgent FCDC business, and is given priority over consideration of budget and resolution matters. Membership in FCDC is divided between Fairfax County's nine magisterial districts: Braddock, Hunter Mill, Dranesville, Franconia, Mount Vernon, Mason, Providence, Springfield, and Sully. Each magisterial district has its own committee and leadership, and meet regularly, usually monthly, to coordinate activities. Membership is open to any Fairfax County resident age 13 and older.

Public Positions

Fairfax County Police Chief Firing

In 2021, after it was revealed that the newly hired Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis had been involved in previous incidents of alleged police brutality and misconduct, FCDC voted to call for Board of Supervisors to fire Davis. The nine Democrats on the Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the FCDC prior to the vote explaining their reasoning for hiring Davis and urging against the measure.

Response to School Board Removal Petitions

In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, a number of organizations formed to advocate for a return to in-person school instruction amid concerns over student performance gaps. The Open FCPS Coalition formed as a non-partisan organization, however received financial contributions from prominent Republicans, such as former Gubernatorial candidate Pete Snyder. The Open FCPS Coalition also sought the removal of three Fairfax County School Board members for alleged dereliction of duties related to Fairfax County Public School's COVID-19 response. On August 20, 2021, the Fairfax County Circuit Court dismissed the first of three removal petitions for lack of evidence. In November 2020, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee passed a resolution affirming its support for evidence-based school re-opening plans and urging state legislators to refrain from coercing the FCPS school board to change their school reopening plan by threatening to cut their budget. The resolution passed with 98% of the vote. In January 2021, State Senator Chap Petersen said he would propose an amendment to the Virginia state budget which would prohibit funds from going to school systems that don't open for in-person learning. In March 2021, Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill requiring schools to open for in-person learning in the fall.

Current elected officials

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Democrats have controlled both of Virginia's seats in the

since

: File:Tim Kaine 116th official portrait.jpg, Junior U.S. Senator File:Mark Warner 113th Congress photo.jpg, Senior U.S. Senator

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 11 seats Virginia is apportioned in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, six are held by Democrats:

Legislative leadership

President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia The President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia is a Virginia constitutional office whose role is to serve as the presiding officer of the Senate of Virginia in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor. The office is established in Article IV, ...

Louise Lucas Lillie Louise Lucas ( Boone; born January 22, 1944) is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Virginia ...

* Senate Majority Leader:

Dick Saslaw Richard Lawrence Saslaw (born February 5, 1940) is an American politician serving as Majority Leader of the Senate of Virginia since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1976–80, then was el ...

* Senate Caucus Chair: Mamie Locke * House Minority Leader: Don Scott * House Caucus Chair:

Charniele Herring Charniele LeRhonda Herring ( ; born September 25, 1969) is an American politician. She has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2009, representing the 46th district, made up of portions of the city of Alexandria and Fairfax County, ne ...

List of chairs

* Watkins Abbitt Sr. (1964–1970) * William G. Thomas (1970–1972) * Joseph T. Fitzpatrick (1972–1979) * Richard J. Davis (1979–1980) *

Owen B. Pickett Owen Bradford Pickett (August 31, 1930 – October 27, 2010) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia. Early life Pickett was born in Richmond, Virginia on August 31, 1930. He graduated from Virg ...

(1980–1982) *

Alan Diamonstein Alan Arnold Diamonstein (August 20, 1931 – October 17, 2019) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician. Diamonstein served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1968 to 2002, representing parts of Newport News. Diamonstein ch ...

(1982–1985) * Richard J. Davis (1985–1986) * Lawrence H. Framme III (1986–1990) * Paul Goldman (1990–1993) *

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...

(1993–1995) * Suzie Wrenn (1995–1998) * Kenneth R. Plum (1998–2000) *

Emily Couric Emily Couric (June 5, 1947 – October 18, 2001) was a Virginia Democratic state senator from Charlottesville. Life and career Couric was born to Elinor (Hene) Couric, a homemaker and part-time writer, and John Martin Couric, a public r ...

(Co-chair, 2000–2001) * Lawrence H. Framme III (Co-chair, 2000–2001; 2001–2003) * Kerry J. Donley (2003–2005) *

Richard Cranwell Charles Richard "Dick" Cranwell (born July 26, 1942) is an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates 1972–2001, and was its Democratic floor leader 1991–2001. From 2005 to 20 ...

(2005–2010) *

Brian Moran Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until 2 ...

(2010–2012) *

(2012–2014) * Dwight C. Jones (2014–March 27, 2015) * Susan Swecker (March 27, 2015–present)

Controversies

2019 Virginia political crisis Over the course of one week in February 2019, all three of Virginia's statewide elected executive officials (all members of the Democratic Party) became engulfed in scandal, and were consequently the subjects of nationwide bipartisan calls for ...

In 2019, all three of Virginia's statewide executive office holders, all Democrats, were embroiled in various controversies. Governor Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page had featured an individual in blackface and an individual in a

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

hood, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was accused of having sexually assaulted a professor in 2004, and Attorney General Mark Herring was revealed to have worn blackface at a college party. Most Democrats urged Northam to resign from the governorship, but he refused. Ultimately, none of the three accused resigned.

Historical firsts

;

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

* First African American

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

and

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held by Winsome Earle S ...

Douglas Wilder Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstruction ...

;

Arab Americans Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American Inst ...

* First

Lebanese-American Lebanese Americans ( ar, أمريكيون لبنانيون) are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the ...

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 ...

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 ...

* First

Palestinian-American Palestinian Americans ( ar, فلسطينيو أمريكا) are Americans who are of full or partial Palestinians, Palestinian descent. It is unclear when the first Palestinian immigrants arrived in the United States, but it is believed that the ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

Sam Rasoul Salam "Sam" Rasoul (born June 30, 1981) is an American politician serving as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 11th district. He is one of the two Muslim members of the Virginia General Assembly. In November 2020, Rasoul announc ...

;

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

* First

Korean-American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

Mark Keam Mark Lee Keam (born May 10, 1966) is a Korean American lawyer. He is a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates in the United States. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Keam represented the Virginia's 35th House of Delegates ...

* First

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

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 ...

* First

Filipino-American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

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 ...

;

Jewish Americans American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

* First Jewish American to represent Virginia in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Norman Sisisky Norman Sisisky (June 9, 1927 – March 29, 2001) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia from 1983 to 2001, representing the 4th District. He was a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and one of the most ...

* First Jewish American Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates:

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 ...

;

Latino Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

* First Peruvian-American member of the Virginia House of Delegates: Elizabeth Guzmán * First Salvadoran-American member of the Virginia House of Delegates: Hala Ayala * First

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

;

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

* First openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates and

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

: Adam Paul Ebbin * First openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

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 ...

* First openly

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

member of the Virginia House of Delegates:

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 ...

;Women * First female

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

Mary Sue Terry Mary Sue Terry (born September 28, 1947) is an American Democratic politician from Virginia. Early life Terry was born the daughter of Nathaniel Chatham Terry and Nannie Ruth Terry in Martinsville, Virginia. She was an active and enthusiastic ...

* First female Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates: Eileen Filler-Corn

References

External links

Democratic Party of Virginia Party Website

Virginia Young Democrats

Arlington Democrats

Senate Caucus

House Caucus
{{U.S. Democratic Party state parties

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 ...

Political parties in Virginia 1924 establishments in Virginia

Organization

Local Democratic Committees

Central Committee

Steering Committee

Staff

Fairfax County Democratic Committee

Public Positions

Fairfax County Police Chief Firing

Response to School Board Removal Petitions

Current elected officials

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

Legislative leadership

List of chairs

Controversies

2019 Virginia political crisis Over the course of one week in February 2019, all three of Virginia's statewide elected executive officials (all members of the Democratic Party) became engulfed in scandal, and were consequently the subjects of nationwide bipartisan calls for ...

Historical firsts

See also

References

External links