All 100 seats of the Virginia House of Delegates will be on the ballot this year, although only a dozen or so are competitive. Three of the most competitive races are rematches between the same candidates that ran in the last election cycle.
Two years ago, Democrat Kim Pope Adams lost to Republican Kim Taylor in one of the most competitive elections for the House of Delegates. The margin of victory was only 78 votes; that’s less than one percent of the vote in a district that includes Petersburg and Dinwiddie. After the election, her 17-year-old son had some advice.
"He said, 'Mom, championships are won in the offseason.' And I didn't quite understand what he meant then, but in these past two years, it's true," she says. "The community sees that I haven't left their side. And I believe that in November that's going to be reflected in the vote totals."
Adams isn’t alone. Republican Delegate Amanda Batten also has a rematch in James City County and Williamsburg against Democrat Jessica Anderson.
"I think we did a lot of inspiration in 2023. We built that momentum in 2024," Anderson says. "And now we're ready to get the job done in 2025."
In Blacksburg and Roanoke, incumbent Republican Delegate Chris Obenshain also has a rematch against Democrat Lily Franklin.
"That's why the first coordinated office with Abigail Spanberger is in Southwest Virginia and nowhere else right now is because they're taking this race very seriously and they're taking all of Virginia seriously," says Franklin. "So, I think that's probably one of the biggest differences."
Two former delegates are also hoping to make a comeback: former Republican Delegate Tim Anderson is in a competitive race in Virginia Beach, and former Democratic Delegate Elizabeth Guzman is also in a competitive race in Prince William County.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
