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2021 Virginia legislative session
General information
Session start:    January 13, 2021 Session end:    February 8, 2021
Leadership
Senate President Justin Fairfax (D) House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D) Majority Leader Senate:Dick Saslaw (D) House:Charniele Herring (D) Minority Leader Senate:Thomas Norment Jr. (R) House:C. Todd Gilbert (R)
Elections
Next Election:   November 2, 2021 Last Election:   November 5, 2019
Previous legislative sessions
2020 •2019 •2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions
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In 2021, theVirginia General Assembly was scheduled to convene on January 13 and adjourn on February 8.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the2019 elections. Democrats won a 21-18 majority in theSenate and a 55-45 majority in theHouse. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democraticstate government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Virginia was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had aveto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

The Virginia General Assembly is responsible forredistricting following each census. Legislators were expected to address redistricting as part of the 2021 legislative session. As of the 2020 Census, Virginia was one of two states where a political commission was responsible for redistricting.

Leadership in 2021

Virginia State Senate

• Senate president:Justin Fairfax (D)
• Majority leader:Dick Saslaw (D)
• Minority leader:Thomas Norment Jr. (R)

Virginia House of Delegates

• Speaker of the House:Eileen Filler-Corn (D)
• Majority leader:Charniele Herring (D)
• Minority leader:C. Todd Gilbert (R)

Partisan control in 2021

See also:State government trifectas

Virginia was one of 15 Demcoraticstate government trifectas at the start of 2021 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas,click here.

Virginia was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had aveto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called aveto-proof majority or, sometimes, asupermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures,click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of theVirginia General Assembly in the 2021 legislative session.

Virginia State Senate

Virginia House of Delegates

Regular session

The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

Noteworthy legislation

HB 2312: Marijuana legalization

See also:History of marijuana ballot measures and laws

On April 7, 2021, Gov.Ralph Northam (D) signedHB 2312, which legalized the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana by adults ages 21 and over beginning July 1, 2021.^[1] The legislation also established a regulatory and licensing structure for the cultivation, manufacture, and retail sale of marijuana, along with the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund to support groups and communities disproportionately affected by the enforcement of past cannabis laws.^[2]

Following the passage of the legislation, Northam said:^[3]

Redistricting

See also:Redistricting in Virginia after the 2020 census

Virginia's 11 United States representatives and 140 state legislators are all elected from political divisions called districts. States must redraw district lines every 10 years following completion of the United States census, though states might choose to redistrict more frequently or be made to redistrict by court order.Federal law stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.

Congressional districts
Mid-decade redistricting in Virginia ahead of the 2026 electionsis ongoing.

On October 27, 2025, theVirginia General Assembly adopted a resolution that would allow the legislature to consider a constitutional amendment for mid-decade redistricting.^[5] On October 29, 2025, theVirginia House of Delegates voted 51-42 along party lines to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw its congressional lines.^[6] TheVirginia Senate followed with a 21-16 party-line vote on October 31, 2025.^[7]Constitutional amendments must pass the legislature in two consecutive sessions before being placed on the ballot for voters. After both chambers approved the amendment again in January 2026, a state judge blocked the amendment from appearing on the ballot, ruling that introducing the amendment without unanimous approval had violated the special session's procedural rules.^[8]

The Virginia Supreme Court had unanimously approved the existing congressional maps for the state on December 28, 2021.^[9] The Virginia Redistricting Commission released two statewide congressional map proposals on October 14, 2021, and another on October 15, 2021.^[10] After the commission missed its deadline for approving map proposals and theVirginia Supreme Court assumed authority over the process, the two special masters selected by the court released proposals for congressional districts on December 8, 2021.^[11]

Click here for more information about the congressional maps enacted in Virginia after the 2020 census.

Legislative districts
State legislative redistricting in Virginia after the 2020 censushas concluded.

The Virginia Supreme Court unanimously approved district maps for theVirginia House of Delegates andVirginia State Senate on December 28, 2021.^[12] Democratic and Republican consultants submitted statewide map proposals for consideration to the Virginia Redistricting Commission on September 18, 2021.^[13] The commission had reviewed earlier maps on August 31, 2021, that were focused solely on suburbs in northern Virginia that were drawn from scratch and did not consider legislative incumbents’ home addresses in keeping withearlier commission decisions.^[14][15] After the commission missed its deadline for approving map proposals and theVirginia Supreme Court assumed authority over the process, the two special masters selected by the court released proposals for House and Senate districts on December 8, 2021.^[16]These maps took effect for Virginia's 2023 legislative elections.

Click here for more information about the state legislative maps enacted in Virginia after the 2020 census.

To learn more about the redistricting process in Virginia after the 2020 census,click here.

Standing legislative committees

See also:Standing committee andList of committees in Virginia state government

Astanding committee of astate legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, there were25 standing committees in Virginia's state government, including11 state Senate committees and14 state House committees.

Senate committees

• Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
• Commerce and Labor Committee
• Courts of Justice
• Education and Health
• Finance
• General Laws and Technology
• Local Government
• Privileges and Elections
• Rehabilitation and Social Services
• Senate Rules
• Transportation

House committees

• Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee
• Appropriations
• Commerce and Labor
• Counties, Cities and Towns
• Courts of Justice
• Education
• Finance
• General Laws
  
• Health, Welfare and Institutions
• Militia, Police and Public Safety
• Privileges and Elections
• Rules
• Science and Technology
• Transportation

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process forreferring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states,initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are alsomany other types of statewide measures.

The methods by which the Virginia Constitution can be amended:

See also:Article XII of the Virginia Constitution andLaws governing ballot measures in Virginia

TheVirginia Constitution can be amended through two different paths—a legislative process, and a constitutional convention. Virginiadoes not feature the power ofinitiative for eitherinitiated constitutional amendments orinitiated state statutes.

Legislature

See also:Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions for theVirginia General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in theVirginia House of Delegates and 21 votes in theVirginia State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

Convention

See also:Convention-referred constitutional amendment

Amendments to or revisions of the state's constitution can be proposed by aconstitutional convention as established inSection 2 of Article XII. A convention can happen if the state's legislature "by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house" calls a convention.

Historical context:Between 1996 and 2020, the following occurred:

• A total of33 measures appeared on statewide ballots.
• An average of 2.6 measures appeared on even-year ballots.
• The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots ranged from zero to five.
• Voters approved 87.9 percent (29 of 33) of statewide ballot measures.
• Voters rejected 12.1 percent (4 of 33) of statewide ballot measures.

Historical partisan control

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Virginia.

Historical Senate control

Between 1994 and 2019, partisan control of the Virginia State Senate fluctuated between the Democratic and Republican parties. The table below shows the partisan history of the Virginia State Senate following every general election from 1991 to 2019. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin'sParty Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

After the 1991 elections, Democrats held a 22-18 majority. Elections in 1995 and2011 resulted in the chamber moving to a split 20-20 partisan balance. Both of those elections followed a Democratic majority in the previous cycle and were followed by a Republican majority in the next cycle. The largest change in partisan balance of the state Senate was between2003 and2007, when Democrats gained five seats. The2015 elections resulted in a 21-19 Republican majority. In the2019 elections, Democrats won a 21-19 majority.

Historical House control

Between 1991 and 2019, partisan control of the Virginia House of Delegates shifted towards the Republican Party and then began moving back toward the Democratic Party. As a result of the 1991 elections, Democrats held a 52-47 majority. Republicans gained control of the chamber in 1999 and, by2015, expanded their majority to 66-34. In the2017 elections, the chamber's partisan balance swung back toward Democrats as they gained 15 seats and narrowed the Republican majority to 51-49. Democrats gained a 55-45 majority in the2019 elections.

The table below shows the partisan history of the Virginia House of Delegates following every general election from 1991 to 2019. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin'sParty Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Republicans began making gains in the state House after the 1997 elections, when they picked up two seats. The chamber moved to a 52-47 Republican majority after the 1999 elections. The largest Republican gains in the state House occurred as a result of the2001 elections, when the party expanded its majority by 15 seats. Democrats gained 13 seats between2003 and2007. In2011, Republicans gained eight seats, moving the chamber to a 67-32 Republican majority.

In the2017 elections, Democrats picked up 15 seats and nearly forced a 50-50 split in the chamber. The race for District 94 was an exact tie between DelegateDavid Yancey (R) andShelly Simonds (D). A random drawing was held to select the winner and Yancey won.

Two-thirds of members present in both chambers must vote to override a veto. If all members are in attendance, this is 67 of the 100 members in theVirginia House of Delegates and 27 of the 40 members in theVirginia State Senate.

See also

Elections	Virginia State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
Virginia State Senate elections, 2019 Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019	Virginia General Assembly Virginia House of Delegates Virginia State Senate Governor of Virginia Virginia Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2020 State legislative special elections, 2020 State legislative elections, 2018 State legislative elections, 2016	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures The State Legislative Decade

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Virginia General Assembly homepage

Footnotes