The Virginia House of Delegates will be losing 13 Republican incumbents when the next General Assembly gavels into session.
One of the House Republicans who was unseated is Delegate Bobby Orrock of Spotsylvania, the most senior member of the House of Delegates. First elected in 1989, he was reelected 17 times. One of those races was a primary fight back in 2005 against Republican challenger Shaun Kenney, who now works for the attorney general.
"I was very young. He was quite experienced, and he reminded me of both facts," Kenney recalls. "Quite honestly, it's interesting, the older I have become, the more in my politics I have become like Bobby Orrock. I think it's rare to have pro-education Republicans. I think it's rare to have moderation in the face of opposing sides."
Most of the Republicans who will be leaving next year are freshmen delegates who were elected two years ago: Paul Milde, Chad Green, Chris Obenshain, Geary Higgins, Mark Earley, David Owen and Ian Lovejoy. Here's J. Miles Coleman at the UVA Center for Politics.
"Some of these freshmen were in rematches with candidates who two years ago came very close," Coleman says. "That was the case in at least the Obenshain race where they came close in an environment that was more of a purple type of environment back two years ago."
All 13 of those newly elected Democrats are in swing seats, so they'll be needing to score some wins if they want to get reelected in 2027.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
