City of Virginia Beach

Incumbent Democratic Senator Louise Lucas has served in the State Senate since 1992. She is a Portsmouth native and the President and CEO of a number of businesses in her hometown. In 1971, she became the first Woman Shipfitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Urban Affairs from Norfolk State University. She is the mother of three, grandmother of six, and great-grandmother of nine.

Senator Lucas is a staunch advocate for abortion access and has made it clear that she will fight against any and all attempts to ban abortion. As chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, she helped stop a number of these extreme bills. Senator Lucas supports codifying abortion rights in the Virginia State Constitution. She is endorsed by abortion advocate organizations Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia and REPRO Rising Virginia.

Senator Lucas is outspoken on gun violence prevention. During the 2020 General Assembly, she introduced and passed a bill dealing with universal background checks for firearms purchases. She has expressed the need for legislators to stand up to gun lobbyists like the NRA and work to save the lives of their constituents. She supports extreme risk protection laws, regulating ghost guns, and increasing funding for community violence intervention programs. Senator Lucas is endorsed by Giffords, an organization dedicated to saving lives through gun violence prevention.

Senator Lucas is an advocate for LGBTQ rights and protections. Her track record shows great support for pro-LGBTQ policies. She supports codifying same-sex marriage into the Virginia State Constitution. As a co-patron, she supported amending anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity during the 2020 General Assembly. During that same session, she voted in favor of requiring schools to create transgender-friendly student policies.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Louise Lucas is facing a challenge from Republican Tony Goodwin. Goodwin ran for Portsmouth City Mayor in 2020, losing to Shannon Glover. Goodwin has a background in commercial real estate and hospitality. On several topics, does not make his stances explicitly clear. However, he has stated that he would align with Governor Youngkin’s 15-week abortion ban.

Because of her track record of supporting and leading progressive policy, Senator Louise Lucas is the clear progressive candidate in this race.
Close Window

Democrat Myra Payne is a nurse, veteran, and member of the United Way Committee on Diversity and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. She graduated from Gordonsville High School and began volunteering for the Red Cross. After, she worked as a nursing assistant at a local hospital. She holds several degrees including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Nursing Science in Adult Health Nursing, and Master of Business of Administration, and Master of Divinity.

Payne believes everyone deserves fair and livable wages in order to thrive. She also supports quality affordable healthcare and education. Payne advocates for everyone to have the right to make their own healthcare decisions without interference, especially when it comes to abortion access. She is a champion for LGBTQ rights. Payne advocates for environmental sustainability and conservation. She supports common-sense gun violence prevention laws for the safety of everyone. Payne advocates for increasing access to affordable housing programs.

Democratic candidate Myra Payne and Republican candidate Christie New Craig will face each other in the general election for Virginia’s new 19th State Senate district. Craig previously served on the Chesapeake City School Board. New Craig is in favor of Governor Youngkin’s 15-week abortion ban and the decision to repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Because of her support for progressive policy and commitment to reproductive justice and protecting the LGBTQ community, Myra Payne is the progressive candidate in this race.
Close Window

Democrat Victoria Luevanos grew up in a small rural town in California and enlisted in the United States Navy, where she developed a commitment to serve and support veterans and military families. Her experience with homelessness and food insecurity at a young age led her to appreciate the stability and support that government programs can provide. Victoria uses her life experiences to motivate her to serve the people of the Commonwealth.

Because Luevanos grew up around gang violence, she understands the need for gun violence prevention. As a parent, she experiences the fear of sending her children to school or to a friend’s house where guns might be present. Volunteering with Moms Demand Action has been a way to help fight for firearm safety. As a senator, she will continue to fight to prevent gun violence by supporting storing guns responsibly, banning automatic weapons from the market, supporting extreme risk protection laws, and holding the firearms industry accountable.

As a teen mom and an active-duty member of the military, Luevanos understands the importance of supporting everyone’s right to choose what they do with their own bodies and to access abortion. She will fight for these rights for all Virginians by pushing for paid parental and family leave for both parents, enshrining protections for reproductive health into law, providing public funding to those with limited resources for family planning, eliminating waiting periods to obtain reproductive healthcare including FDA-approved emergency contraception, and strengthening childcare programs for all including parents working non-traditional schedules.

Luevanos understands the importance of education in making a difference for families and communities. She will work to support giving the children of Virginia opportunities for a bright future by expanding public education to include more early childhood education, supporting free school meals, fighting for all youth so they can attend school without fear of bullying, assisting immigrant students by providing more ESL teachers for classrooms and making schools accessible through proper transportation and communication resources like sign language classes.

Luevanos believes that healthcare is human care. As a parent of a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder, she understands the importance of safe, affordable medical care. She will fight for all Virginians by working towards capping prescription drug costs, eliminating co-pays and premiums, removing networks so that everyone is able to see their nearest doctor, ensuring dental, vision, and hearing are covered together under medical insurance, providing easier access to medical cannabis for veterans and other Virginians in need.

Victoria Luevanos is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Bill DeSteph. Senator DeSteph has served in the State Senate since 2016, as well as the House of Delegates from 2014 to 2016. He does not support access to abortion and has spread disinformation on the topic. During the 2022 General Assembly, Senator DeSteph introduced a bill banning books.

Because of her commitment to progressive policies and values, Victoria Luevanos is the progressive choice in this race.

Close Window

Democratic Delegate Angelia Williams Graves has represented the 90th District since a special election in January 2021. Prior to her election, Delegate Graves served on the Norfolk City Council for ten years and as vice mayor of Norfolk for three years. She attended Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University, graduating with a degree in business administration and marketing. She owns her own realty company and has two sons. She’s a member of Grove Baptist Church.

In the General Assembly, Delegate Williams Graves advocates for equitable criminal justice reform. She was chief patron of a bill to strengthen civilian oversight of sheriff’s offices, covering a loophole in previous bills and ensuring all law enforcement officers are held accountable. She introduced legislation to expand an individual’s access to a lawyer to include their first court appearance and bail hearing. She voted to legalize marijuana and wants to ensure that legalization is done equitably to support Black and Brown communities ravaged by the Drug War.

Williams Graves supports making the promise of democracy real for us all by expanding access to the ballot. She was a chief co-patron of legislation that allows localities to expand access to early voting on Sundays. She fought to keep voters safe and healthy during the pandemic by removing the requirement for a witness signature on absentee ballots during an emergency and to establish dropboxes available for voters to leave their ballots. She voted for the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits discrimination at the polls.

Serving on the Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee, Williams Graves advocates for environmental protections and understands the threat of rising sea levels to her district. She worked with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to ensure Virginia’s rivers and bays were clean and protected from polluters. She voted in favor of a bill that establishes new fuel efficiency standards and mandates car manufacturers produce a certain percentage of low- and zero-emission vehicles, supporting the Commonwealth’s transition to relying on 100% renewable energy.

Williams Graves has also been an advocate for the rights of workers and tenants, ensuring everyone can afford to live and work in Virginia. She voted in favor of a successful bill to establish a housing tax credit for low-income individuals. She voted in favor of expanded legal protections from foreclosures for individuals living in mobile home parks. Williams Graves also received the “Family Friendly Seal of Approval” from the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy for her commitment to expanding options for childcare, eldercare, paid sick days, and family leave.

Delegate Williams Graves is facing Independent candidate Giovanni Dolmo. Dolmo ran in the 2022 District 89 House of Delegates race and lost to Delegate Jackie Glass. While Dolmo is running as an independent in this race, his Facebook page for his run for the House of Delegates listed him as a Republican. When asked about his views on Governor Youngkin’s 15-week abortion ban, he did not explicitly show support for abortion access.

Due to her advocacy for equitable criminal justice reform, working families, the environment, and voting access, Delegate Angelia Williams Graves is the most progressive choice for this race.
Close Window

Incumbent Democratic Senator Aaron Rouse has served in the State Senate since winning his 2023 Special Election in District 7. He previously served on the Virginia Beach City Council. He is a Virginia Beach native and First Colonial High School graduate. Senator Rouse holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Virginia Tech. He is a former NFL player. He and his wife, Virginia Beach Councilwoman Jennifer Valetine-Rouse live in Virginia Beach with their son and daughter.

Education is a key area of focus for Senator Rouse, having gone through the Virginia Beach public school system himself. He pledges to fight to raise teacher pay to above the national average. He believes in expanding access to preschool education programs. Senator Rouse also sees the need to modernize classrooms so all children in the Commonwealth can have a safe learning environment. He also believes that job training in schools should be expanded so children are better prepared to enter the workforce. He founded Rouse’s House, an education nonprofit that focuses on youth and families.

Senator Rouse advocates for affordable healthcare and abortion access. He believes healthcare decisions should be between patients and their doctors. His goals are to lower the overall cost of healthcare and prescription drug care costs, expand healthcare coverage, protect the right to abortion and fight against attacks on access, and ensure every person has access to contraceptives. On his win in the 7th District, Senator Rouse called it a “victory for ensuring access to reproductive healthcare across the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Senator Rouse believes in investments that create an economy where every family can thrive. His focus is on new economic opportunities. While a member of the Virginia Beach City Council, he worked to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and to increase salaries for education and public safety professionals. Senator Rouse’s economic goals are to bring new good-paying jobs to the region, expand job training opportunities, increase funding for affordable housing, and building new workforce housing.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Aaron Rouse is facing a rematch challenge from Republican Kevin Adams. The two faced each other in January 2023 during the special election for District 22. Kevin Adams is a retired Naval Lieutenant Commander. He is anti-abortion and has voiced support for Governor Youngkin’s 15 week abortion ban.

Because of his commitment to protecting abortion access, Senator Rouse is the progressive choice in this race. Close Window