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Virginia's 78th House of Delegates district elects one of 100 seats in theVirginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state'sbicameral legislature. District 78 represents part of the city ofChesapeake inHampton Roads, the southern coastal region of Virginia. The seat is currently held by RepublicanJay Leftwich.[1]
On November 6, 2013, three candidates vied for the open seat in the 78th district, vacated in August of that year when incumbentJohn Cosgrove won a special election to the state senate. In the House of Delegates race, RepublicanJay Leftwich, a lawyer and chair of the local school board, prevailed with 57% of the vote; the Democrat Linda Bryant earned 39% and Libertarian Dan Foster trailed both.[2]
| Years | Delegate | Party | Electoral history |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 12, 1983 – January 10, 1990 | Frederick H. Creekmore | Democratic | |
| January 10, 1990 – January 5, 1998 | Randy Forbes | Republican | Declined to seek reelection; Elected to the Senate of Virginia |
| January 16, 1998 – September 10, 2001 | Harry Blevins | Republican | Resigned; Elected to the Senate of Virginia |
| January 9, 2002 – August 16, 2013 | John Cosgrove | Republican | Resigned; Elected to the Senate of Virginia |
| January 2014 – present | Jay Leftwich | Republican | First elected in 2013 |