160th Virginia General Assembly
| 160th Virginia General Assembly | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| File:Richmond Virginia Capitol.jpg | |||||||
| Overview | |||||||
| Term | January 9, 2018 – July 9, 2019 | ||||||
| Senate of Virginia | |||||||
| File:Senate diagram 2014 State of Virginia.svg | |||||||
| Members | 40 | ||||||
| President of the Senate | Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) | ||||||
| Senate Majority Leader | Tommy Norment (R) | ||||||
| Senate Minority Leader | Dick Saslaw (D) | ||||||
| Party control | Republican Party (21) | ||||||
| Virginia House of Delegates | |||||||
| File:Virginia House of Delegates (2018).svg | |||||||
| Members | 100 | ||||||
| Speaker of the House | Kirk Cox (R) | ||||||
| House Majority Leader | Todd Gilbert (R) | ||||||
| House Minority Leader |
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| Party control | Republican Party (51) | ||||||
| Sessions | |||||||
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The 160th Virginia General Assembly, consisting of members who were elected in both the 2017 House election and 2015 Senate election, convened on January 9, 2018. Republicans held one-seat majorities in both chambers, losing 17 seats in the House.
Membership
[edit | edit source]In the 2017 election, 25 women were elected to the House of Delegates, breaking the previous record of 19 that was set in 2013.[1] On January 1, 2019, Eileen Filler-Corn became Leader of the House Democratic Caucus, succeeding David Toscano. She is the first woman to lead a caucus in the 400-year history of the Virginia House of Delegates.[2]
In addition, in the 13th district, Democratic candidate Danica Roem became the first openly transgender candidate to be elected and serve in a state legislative body in the United States.[3] In the 21st and 42nd districts, respectively, Democratic candidates Kelly Fowler and Kathy Tran became the first Asian American women elected to the House of Delegates.[4] Democratic candidates Elizabeth Guzmán and Hala Ayala were elected to 31st and 51st districts, respectively, to also become the first two Hispanic women elected to the House of Delegates.[5][6] In the 68th district, Democratic candidate Dawn M. Adams became the first openly lesbian candidate to be elected to the House of Delegates.[7][8]
Legislation
[edit | edit source]In the aftermath of the 2019 Virginia Beach shooting, Governor Ralph Northam called for a special session of the Virginia Legislature in order for it to consider different gun-control bills. The House of Delegates reconvened on July 9, 2019 only for it to adjourn again after 90 minutes of session. This decision was made on a party-line vote. Northam expressed his disappointment that no gun-control measures were considered. Speaker of the House of Kirk Cox called the special session "just an election year stunt". He criticized the Democrats' focus on gun-control bills without considering mental health and penalization of crimes.[9]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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