Now that all the legislative candidates have been determined in conventions and primaries, both parties are looking ahead to November.
All 140 members of the General Assembly will be on the ballot this November. That's 40 seats in the Senate and 100 seats in the House. And now that all the party conventions and primary elections have been completed, the 2023 campaigns are moving into high gear.
Don Scott is leader of the House Democrats.
"We think we have a winning formula and a winning message this November," Scott says. "We think we have a very easy and strong case against the Republicans being led by former President Trump and the MAGA extremism attacking voting rights, banning books, attacking children in classrooms. And we think that we’re on the right path."
But Republicans worry that path is a road with electric vehicles, and Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert appeared on WMAL radio to blast the Democrats’ push to mandate that all new cars sold in Virginia will be electric by the year 2035.
"Our Democrats here in Virginia are chasing those left coast Democrats right down into the abyss of craziness," the House Speaker said. "But if they want to double down, if they want to keep going in this direction, we think voters have a very clear choice this November."
Republicans currently have a narrow edge in the House, and Democrats currently have a narrow edge in the Senate. They’re competing in a new set of maps that was drawn by a nonpartisan special master appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court. So, this coming election cycle could be the most competitive in generations.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
