City of Newport News

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Shelly Simonds is an activist and educator who has represented the 94th District since 2019. She attended Bucknell University to earn her undergraduate degree and Stanford University to earn her master’s degree in communications. After college she settled down in Newport News with her husband to raise her two daughters. She became a Spanish teacher at her daughters’ elementary school and was elected to the Newport News School Board in 2012.

Delegate Simonds has been an advocate for the environment by supporting multiple bills that have been important for addressing climate change and protecting the state’s natural resources. She was a patron of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which will transition Virginia’s power grid to rely on 100% renewable energy by 2050. She also supported the creation of a major offshore wind energy facility and a rebate for individuals who purchase or drive low-emission vehicles. She supports increased funding for land conservation as well as community parks and green spaces. She opposes fracking and uranium mining.

Delegate Simonds has also worked to ensure women are able to receive equal treatment in the workplace. She supported the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Additionally, she’s worked to expand child care programs, knowing how access and affordability are critical to letting parents participate in the labor force. She served as a patron of a bill that greatly expanded subsidies for childcare. She also supported the passage of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which added critical worker protections to a previously overlooked workforce comprising primarily women of color.

As a former teacher, Delegate Simonds has worked to ensure that Virginia’s schools are well-funded and equitable. She voted in favor of raises for teachers, which will help address the state’s shortage of teachers and help the state retain and recruit high-quality educators. Del. Simonds also supports actions to address the achievement gap in her district. As a member of the Virginia School Board Association’s Challenged Schools Taskforce, Simonds helped secure $2,000,000 of funding for low-income students to attend educational support programs.

Delegate Simonds has also expanded access to affordable healthcare. She supported a successful bill to end surprise medical billing so that insurance companies have to be transparent about what a patient will be charged. Simonds also worked to decrease prescription drug prices, voting to implement a $50 monthly price cap on insulin. She expanded access to critical reproductive healthcare, voting to require insurance companies to cover abortions.

Delegate Simonds has two opponents in this race: Libertarian Michael Bartley and Republican Matt Waters. Bartley does not have a website or social media and we could find no policy positions at the time of research. Waters would do nothing to prevent gun violence and actively work to repeal what little protections are already written into law. He aligns himself with Republican attacks on public education.

Due to her support of the environment, public education, working families, and access to affordable healthcare, Delegate Shelly Simonds is the most progressive choice in this race.
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Incumbent Delegate Marcia “Cia” Price has represented the 95th District in the House of Delegates since 2016. She received an undergraduate degree from Spelman College and a master’s degree from Howard University. She has served as a special assistant in the Virginia Liaison Office, a state coordinator for the NAACP’s This Is My Vote! Campaign, and a dental office administrator. She founded the Virginia Black Leadership Organizing Collaborative (VA BLOC), which focuses on voter and civic engagement. Because of redrawn district lines, she will now run for the 85th district.

Delegate Price is a strong supporter of expanding access to the ballot box. She successfully sponsored the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls. She also voted to keep voters safe during the pandemic by establishing drop boxes for ballots and removing the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots during an emergency. Del. Price also voted for bills to extend early voting, remove the requirement for an excuse for absentee voting, open up the polls for Sunday voting hours and opportunities for curbside voting, in addition to making Election Day a state holiday.

Delegate Price wants to address the housing crisis by advocating for tenant rights and affordable housing in the Commonwealth. She was chief patron of legislation to ensure that measures to protect the rights of tenants during the pandemic are made permanent and supported additional measures to protect renters during the pandemic. She also helped expand access to the Virginia Rent Relief Program and voted to create the Virginia housing opportunity tax credit, which assists low-income individuals.

Delegate Price was a co-patron of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which provided critical protections for workers like housekeepers, nannies, and many others, ensuring they have the same labor protections and a minimum wage like everyone else. In addition, she voted in favor of successfully raising the minimum wage and supported efforts to end the exclusion of farmworkers from minimum wage requirements. She also helped pass the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, which guarantees employees receive fair compensation for overtime work.

Delegate Price has worked to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all. In 2018, she voted to expand Medicaid, increasing coverage for nearly 750,000 Virginians. She supported the $50 cap on insulin and is working to cap prices for other expensive prescription drugs. She also voted in favor of a bill to require state-run health facilities to treat undocumented immigrants rather than report them. She also voted for legislation that requires insurance companies to cover abortion services.

Del. Price is running unopposed, but her support of expanding access to the ballot, working families, and access to affordable healthcare, make her the progressive choice in this race. Close Window

Incumbent Democratic Delegate Jeion Ward has represented the 92nd District since 2004. A native of Hampton Roads, she attended Thomas Nelson Community College before graduating from Christopher Newport University. She became a teacher and is the president of the Hampton Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 4260. She is active in the Hampton Branch NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Hampton Democratic Committee. Due to redrawn district lines, she will now run for the 87th district.

Delegate Ward is a strong advocate for working families having previously served as chair of the House Labor and Commerce Committee. She successfully sponsored legislation to raise Virginia’s minimum wage in 2020. She fought the following year to remove a Jim Crow-era exemption that bars farmworkers from earning the minimum wage, but was unsuccessful. Del. Ward supports the right of workers to form unions and voted for legislation to allow municipal employees to collectively bargain. She also wants to repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law.

Delegate Ward voted in favor of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which will facilitate Virginia’s transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050. She also supported the creation of new emission standards for cars and requiring car manufacturers to produce a certain percentage of low- and zero-emission vehicles. She voted in favor of the creation of a rebate for individuals who purchase electric vehicles, incentivizing the use of efficient transportation. Additionally, she is working on expanding the state’s vehicle charging infrastructure.

As a middle school teacher, Del. Ward believes in the importance of a well-funded education system. She voted for 5% raises for teachers, which she sees as a critical step for addressing the teacher shortage in Hampton and statewide. She supports increasing funding to allow for smaller class sizes, particularly for younger students who benefit from more teacher-student interaction. She also voted for additional funding for schools so they could reopen safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Del. Ward wants to keep communities safe with common sense measures to prevent gun violence. She was chief patron of a successful bill to establish a one-handgun-per-month purchase limit. She also supported universal background checks and the right of localities to regulate the possession of firearms, along with other gun violence prevention legislation passed in 2020. In the most recent session, she voted no on HB 509, which would repeal the extreme risk protection order law, voted no on HB 11. which would reduce penalties for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and voted yes on HB 1909, which establishes gun-free zones on school board property.

Delegate Ward’s opponent is John Chapman, a Newport News native. Chapman’s priorities are vague, but speak to conservative talking points. His issues page lists a Ronald Reagan quote and little else.

Due to her support of working families, the environment, gun violence prevention, and public education, Delegate Jeion Ward is the most progressive choice in this race for the 87th District.
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