ROANOKE. Va – While the final votes in Virginia are getting counted, it’s expected that Democrats will also lose control of the House of Delegates.
House Minority Leader, Del. Todd Gilbert says his party plans to turn back progressive measures and practices overseen by the house in the last two years.
“We believe that, that a number of things that were passed by the General Assembly under unfettered and divided democratic control actually played a large part in the outcome of these elections,” Gilbert said.
Del. Sam Rasoul is projected to be the lone Democratic member of the House in our region and in the entire western half of the state.
“It’s clear to me that people want us to be able to focus on their needs, how we’re going to improve their future. And all too often in politics we see, you know, hate thought with hate, and that is just not what people are looking for,” Rasoul said.
One of the major pieces of legislation making headlines is the ongoing legalization of marijuana. While measures were written under a Democratic majority, it will be up to both parties to come to an agreement.
“They passed the legalization of marijuana, but they did so without any sort of regulatory framework around it. So all they did was essentially create a black market for marijuana,” Gilbert said.
Virginia’s Senate seats are not up for re-election until next year, which means legislators from both sides of the aisle will have to prepare to work under a split government when the next session starts in January.
“It’s important to be able to represent regional issues work in a bipartisan way to get good things done. And so I’m always trying to work with whoever wants to help move Virginia along,” Rasoul said.
Statewide legislators are set to be sworn in on January 15, 2022.