Election Recap

By Lauren Schmitt
Commonwealth Strategy Group

This month’s General Assembly elections resulted in a historic shift after more than 25 years of Republican control of at least one chamber of the state legislature, leading to unified control of the executive and legislative branches of Virginia government under Democrats, who flipped control of both chambers of the General Assembly on election night. As of this writing, Democrats in the House of Delegates will have a 55-45 seat majority next year. In the Senate of Virginia, Democrats will have a 21-19 seat majority.

A few races remain in recount territory, especially that of Delegate Chris Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) who is trailing his opponent, Democrat Nancy Guy, by 18 votes. Delegate Stolle is the only physician in the House of Delegates seeking re-election. His defeat would leave Senator Siobhan Dunnvant (R-Henrico) as the sole remaining physician in the General Assembly. Senator Dunnavant is an OB-GYN and Delegate Stolle's sister. She won a closely contested race of her own against Democrat Delegate Debra Rodman.

The House Democratic Caucus has elected current Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn as the Speaker-Designee. She will be the first woman and the first Jewish woman to serve as Virginia’s Speaker of the House. Charniele Herring will serve as Virginia's first African-American Majority Leader, and Rip Sullivan was chosen as new Caucus Chair. In the Senate, current Minority Leader Dick Saslaw (D) and Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R) are expected to trade roles. The new leadership will now need to select new committee chairmen and members.

With the new Democratic majority in the General Assembly and open seats producing new Republican faces as well, we are prepared to introduce VOS to newly elected legislators and continue to support returning legislators who are supportive of us. Our PAC is the profession’s voice in the political process. Contributing to the PAC is investing in your profession, patients, and high-quality health care from psychiatrists. Please make a contribution to the PAC today, and thank you to our donors this year!

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