Louise Lucas
Louise Lucas (Democratic Party) is a member of theVirginia State Senate, representingDistrict 18. She assumed office in 1992. Her current term ends on January 12, 2028.
Lucas (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to theVirginia State Senate to representDistrict 18. She won in the general election onNovember 7, 2023.
Lucas has served asstate Senate president pro tempore since January 8, 2020.[1]
Biography
Lucas was born in Portsmouth, Virginia on January 22, 1944. She received a B.S. in 1971 and an M.A. in 1982 at Norfolk State University and worked as President and CEO of Lucas Lodge, a residential and health care services provider. Lucas is a Deaconess at the New Mount Olivet Baptist Church.[2][3]
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Lucas was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Rules Committee
- Finance and Appropriations Committee,Chair
- Education and Health Committee
- Commerce and Labor Committee
2023-2024
Lucas was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Education and Health Committee,Chair
- Finance and Appropriations Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
2020-2021
Lucas was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Education and Health Committee,Chair
- Finance and Appropriations Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
2019-2020
Lucas was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Education and Health Committee
- Senate Courts of Justice Committee
- Senate Finance Committee
2016 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2016 |
|---|
| •Commerce and Labor |
| •Courts of Justice |
| •Education and Health |
| •Finance |
2015 legislative session
In the 2015 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| •Courts of Justice |
| •Education and Health |
| •Finance |
| •Local Government |
| •Rules |
2014 legislative session
In the 2014 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2014 |
|---|
| •Courts of Justice |
| •Education and Health |
| •Finance |
| •Local Government |
| •Senate Rules |
2012-2013
In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2012 |
|---|
| •Courts of Justice |
| •Education and Health |
| •Finance |
| •Local Government |
| •Senate Rules |
2010-2011
In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2010 |
|---|
| •Local Government, Chair |
| •Courts of Justice |
| •Education and Health |
| •Finance |
| •Senate Rules |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2023
See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2023
General election
General election for Virginia State Senate District 18
IncumbentLouise Lucas defeatedTony Goodwin in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 18 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Louise Lucas (D) | 58.9 | 28,668 |
 | Tony Goodwin (R)  | 40.7 | 19,828 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 203 | ||
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 48,699 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 18
IncumbentLouise Lucas defeated incumbentLionell Spruill in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 18 on June 20, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Louise Lucas | 53.1 | 9,614 |
 | Lionell Spruill | 46.9 | 8,484 | |
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 18,098 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 18
Tony Goodwin defeatedMerle Rutledge in the Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 18 on June 10, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tony Goodwin | 87.9 | 175 |
 | Merle Rutledge | 12.1 | 24 | |
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 199 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Lucas received the following endorsements.
2019
See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2019
General election
General election for Virginia State Senate District 18
IncumbentLouise Lucas won election in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 18 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Louise Lucas (D) | 92.5 | 43,021 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 7.5 | 3,494 | ||
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 46,515 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2015
Elections for theVirginia State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 9, 2015. The general election took place onNovember 3, 2015. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 26, 2015.[4] IncumbentLouise Lucas was unopposed in the Democratic primary. No Republican candidates filed for election. Lucas was unchallenged in the general election.[5]
2011
On November 8, 2011, Lucas won re-election to District 18 of theVirginia State Senate. She was unchallenged in the August 23 primary and ran unopposed in the November 8 general election.[6]
2007
On Nov. 6, 2007, Lucas won re-election to the 18th District Seat in theVirginia State Senate.[7]
Lucas raised $133,133 for her campaign.[8]
| Virginia State Senate, District 18 (2007) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Louise Lucas (D) | 20,260 | 98.48% | ||
| Write-in | 311 | 1.51% | ||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Louise Lucas did not completeBallotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Louise Lucas did not completeBallotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy events
Charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument causing more than $1,000 in damage (2020)
On June 10, 2020, Lucas attended a protest against Confederate monuments in Portsmouth, Virginia. According to a video taken by police officers, Lucas told the officers they could not arrest protestors who were planning to paint a Confederate monument. Later that day, after Lucas had left the area, protestors pulled the monument down and one person suffered a critical head injury. On August 17, 2020, the Portsmouth Police Department charged Lucas with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument causing more than $1,000 in damage. According toThe Washington Post, Lucas' attorney issued the following statement, "[the charges are] a political stunt meant to weaponize the criminal justice system against African Americans."[9]
On November 16, 2020, Judge Claire Cardwell dismissed the charges against Lucas. According to theRichmond Times-Dispatch, Cardwell "expressed concern that Portsmouth police had filed the charges without the approval of local prosecutors and had attempted to block [Stephanie] Morales [the commonwealth’s attorney for Portsmouth] from prosecuting the case by trying to subpoena her as a witness."[10]
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.
| Year | Office | Status | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Virginia State Senate District 18 | Won general | $2,834,265 | $2,432,463 |
| 2019 | Virginia State Senate District 18 | Won general | $425,401 | N/A** |
| Grand total | $3,259,666 | $2,432,463 | ||
| Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). | ||||
| ** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle | ||||
| Note: Totals above reflect only available data. | ||||
Scorecards
Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Virginia scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, theVirginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 9. Special sessions occurred May 13, 2024; June 18 to July 1; and July 18, 2024.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, theVirginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to February 25.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, theVirginia State Legislature was in session from January 12 to March 12.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, theVirginia State Legislature was in session from January 13 to February 8.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, theVirginia State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 12. A special session was held from August 18 to November 9.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through February 24.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 10 through March 10. Special sessions were held from April 11 to May 30 and from August 30 to October 30.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through February 25.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 13 through March 11.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 14 to February 28, 2015.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 8 through March 10.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, theVirginia General Assembly was in session from January 9 to February 25.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, theVirginia General Assembly was in regular session from January 11 to March 10.
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See also
2023 Elections
External links
Candidate Virginia State Senate District 18 | Officeholder Virginia State Senate District 18 | Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑Brunswick Times-Gazette, "Lucas elected President Pro Tempore of Virginia Senate," December 14, 2019
- ↑Virginia Senate, "L. Louise Lucas," accessed May 19, 2022
- ↑Library of Virginia, "L. LOUISE LUCAS (1944 - )," accessed May 19, 2022
- ↑Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed August 21, 2015
- ↑Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 2011 General Election Official Results," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 6, 2007 General Election Official Results," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑Follow the Money, "2007 Campaign contributions," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑The Washington Post, "Virginia Sen. L. Louise Lucas charged with felonies over Portsmouth’s Confederate Monument protest," August 17, 2020
- ↑Richmond Times-Dispatch, "UPDATED: Charges dismissed against Sen. Louise Lucas stemming from damage to Confederate statue," November 16, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - | Virginia State Senate District 18 1992-Present | Succeeded by - |
- Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
- 2015 general election (winner)
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- Current member, Virginia State Senate
- Current state legislative member
- Current state senator
- Democratic Party
- State Senate candidate, 2015
- State Senate candidate, 2019
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- State senate candidates
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- Virginia State Senate candidate, 2015
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- Virginia State Senate candidate, 2023
- State Senate candidate, 2011
- 2011 incumbent
- 2011 primary (winner)
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- 2011 unopposed
- 2015 primary (winner)
- 2015 unopposed
- 2015 unopposed primary and general election
