Incumbent Delegate Patrick Hope has represented the 47th District in the House of Delegates since 2009. He is a healthcare attorney who received his law degree from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. Before practicing law, Hope was a congressional staffer for several years. As an attorney, he worked with various healthcare organizations to increase access and affordability for patients. He has lived in the Buckingham community of Arlington with his wife and three daughters since 2000.

With three kids in Arlington Public Schools, Hope has served as a dedicated advocate for public education. In 2021, he voted in favor of a 5% pay raise for teachers. During the pandemic, he advocated for increased funding to help schools reopen safely and increased counselors and nurses. Hope received a 100% rating for his voting record from the Virginia Education Association. He also advocated for kids’ mental health in schools, carrying legislation to allow excused absences in public schools for mental health.

Hope also serves as the chair of the Joint Commission on Health Care, which is a bipartisan group working to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all Virginians. He voted in favor of Medicaid expansion in 2018, which granted affordable health coverage to nearly 750,000 Virginians. He voted to expand Medicaid coverage to include dental insurance in 2021. He also voted to cap the cost of insulin to $50 per month and to expand insurance coverage to include abortions.

Hope understands the urgency of the climate crisis and has voted to support environmental protections in the state. He voted for the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which commits Virginia to 100% clean energy by 2050. He supported the passage of a bill to require the production of low-emission and electric vehicles. He also helped create the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas to preserve Virginia’s natural environment for future generations. He has received multiple 100% ratings from the Sierra Club and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters during his time in office.

Hope has also introduced common sense gun violence prevention legislation. Serving as chair of the House Public and Safety Committee, he has passed bills to make universal background checks obligatory and require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms. He helped pass a bill to re-establish a one-handgun-purchase-a-month rule and increased penalties for leaving firearms unsecured in environments where they may endanger children. Additionally, he supported a successful bill to prevent individuals convicted of domestic violence offenses from owning guns.

Hope has also advocated for criminal justice reforms while in office. He strongly opposes the use of solitary confinement and the construction of for-profit private prisons in the Commonwealth. He is working to introduce a mechanism of independent oversight in Virginia’s correctional centers, such as a prison Ombudsman, as Virginia is the only state without one. In 2021, he helped pass a bill that eliminated “child support” payments charged to the parents of incarcerated youths. He also advocated for reducing crowding in prisons during COVID-19, vaccinations for incarcerated people, and the reintroduction of visiting hours during the pandemic.

Hope is running unopposed. Due to his support of affordable healthcare, criminal justice reform, gun violence prevention, and public education, Delegate Patrick Hope is the most progressive candidate. Close Window