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RICHMOND — Newly elected members of the Virginia Senate on Wednesday picked Democratic and Republican leaders, who for the next four years are charged with guiding their rival party caucuses in the narrowly divided upper chamber.
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In separate, closed-door gatherings in Northern Virginia, Democrats elected Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) majority leader while Republicans made Sen. Ryan T. McDougle (R-Hanover) minority leader.
Leadership of both caucuses was up for grabs with the retirements of Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who has led his party in the chamber since 1996, and Minority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City), who has done so since 2008.
With all 140 House and Senate seats on the ballot in General Assembly elections last week, Democrats won control of the House of Delegates and held onto the Senate despite losing one seat there. With a mere 21-19 edge in the Senate, Democrats will have to stick together on every vote if they want their bills to pass. Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who presides over the chamber, has the power to break most ties.
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The job of holding the Democrats together will be in the hands of Surovell, who defeated Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hampton) for the post in a hard-fought internal party battle that turned on issues of race, gender and regional power. Surovell, a criminal defense attorney, joined the Senate in 2016 after six years in the House. Locke, a retired Hampton University professor, has been a senator since 2004.
The Virginia NAACP and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus endorsed Locke, who is Black, over Surovell, who is White. The Black Caucus urged senators to “make history by electing the first Black majority leader in the Virginia Senate,” noting that Black women have been critical to electing Democrats.
Virginia House makes history by nominating first Black speaker
“The Democratic majorities were won on reproductive freedom with women, Black voters, and workers playing a critical role in ensuring those elected got across the finish line,” the Black Caucus wrote in a public statement ahead of the vote. “Black women are the backbone of our democracy and representation matters.”
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The push for Surovell was more behind the scenes, with supporters calling him a skilled legislative tactician and noting his work to pass a sweeping criminal justice overhaul in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
Regional rivalries bubbled just below the surface, with Northern Virginia losing Saslaw and other senior legislators and with two Hampton Roads legislators about to assume powerful posts in January, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal party deliberations.
Democrats dominate N. Va., with some losses reflecting voter frustrations
Del. Don L. Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) has been nominated to become the first Black House speaker. Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), already the first Black woman to serve as president pro-tempore, is in line to lead the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee with the retirement of Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax) and a primary defeat suffered by her co-chairman, Sen. George L. Barker (D-Fairfax).
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After Surovell was chosen for majority leader, Locke was elected caucus chairwoman.
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“I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate Democratic Caucus for entrusting myself and Senator Locke to lead them for the next four years,” Surovell said in a written statement issued afterward. “As we fight to fulfill the trust Virginia voters placed in our caucus to make Virginia a thriving, inclusive, progressive Commonwealth and the best state in America to ... raise a family and to start a business.”
Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who was elected vice chairman, said the caucus emerged from the vote united. “We had two good choices,” he said.
Both caucuses voted at a Tysons Corner hotel, ahead of the finance committee’s annual retreat.
Senate Republicans made their picks without the drama that swirled around Senate Democrats or House Republicans, who chose their minority leader on Sunday.
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House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) fought off an effort to oust him from Republican leadership, defeating a group of GOP delegates who blamed their party’s losses in the elections on Gilbert’s failure to stand up to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political team and their strategy to highlight abortion late in the campaign.
Va. House GOP votes for Gilbert as minority leader after power struggle
While Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Rockingham) initially competed with McDougle for the top leadership post, Obenshain dropped his bid ahead of the meeting. None of the Republican leadership positions was contested. Obenshain will serve as Republican Caucus chairman.
“I am honored my colleagues have elected me to serve as Republican Leader,” McDougle said in a written statement. “We have a talented team of experienced lawmakers and skilled newcomers who are prepared to advance our positive agenda of fighting inflation, lowering taxes, supporting law enforcement, and getting energy prices under control.”
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Both parties filled other leadership positions. Republican chose Sens. William M. Stanley Jr. (R-Franklin) and Bryce E. Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) to serve as whips.
The Democrats chose Sens. Aaron Rouse (Virginia Beach) for secretary and Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi (Chesterfield) for treasurer. They also picked two whips: Barbara A. Favola (Arlington) and Lamont Bagby (Henrico).
Three Chesterfield residents filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming that Hashmi does not live in her district, claiming she merely rented an apartment there after redistricting shifted the lines, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Hashmi did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but on Tuesday, she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Leave it to MAGA election deniers to spread lies and throw a tantrum over the outcome of an election. I’m proud the voters have re-elected me so I can keep serving our community, and I am excited to continue delivering results for Virginia families.”
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