Democrats have a slim majority in the state Senate, and they are hoping to keep control this year. Party leaders are trying to outline the issues.
Democrats running for the Senate this year are hoping voters will agree with their message on voting rights and on education funding. But, no issue dominates the landscape more than abortion rights.
Here's Democratic candidate Russett Perry, who’s running for a toss-up seat in Loudoun County.
"Our access to reproductive healthcare, my access to reproductive healthcare, will come down to whether or not Democrats can hold the majority in the Virginia Senate this fall," Perry says. "My seat is the tipping point for having and maintaining, controlling a Democratic majority in the Senate."
Democrats are also hoping to tie fears about crime to gun violence prevention. Here's Delegate Angelia Williams Graves, who is running for a Senate seat in Norfolk.
"While we were in committee, in Public Safety Committee, one evening, someone got shot and killed right up the street on Broad Street," Graves says. "And do you know what the subject of our Public Safety Committee was? It was bill after bill on gun safety laws, common sense gun safety laws that were proposed. And they were killed by Republicans in the House of Delegates."
Control of the Senate might end up coming down to a handful of competitive seats in northern Virginia and in Hampton Roads – newly-drawn districts where both parties are going to have to introduce themselves to new voters.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
