Candidate profile – Lamont Bagby, 74th District (Democrat)

Del. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, is running for reelection to the House of Delegates to represent District 74. He'll face John Dantzler in a party primary June 8.

Education is a top priority, Bagby said of his goals for his next term, if reelected.

Bagby represented the Fairfield District on the Henrico School Board before his election to the House in 2015. He was reelected to the House seat in 2017 and 2019.

Bagby, a Henrico High School graduate, earned an undergraduate degree in business education from Norfolk State University. He also earned a master’s in education leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, and began to teach in Henrico County Public Schools following his higher education career.

Bagby has championed a variety of issues during his tenure in the House in addition to education, including social justice.

Bagby is currently the chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, which is an organization “dedicated to improving the economic, educational, political and social conditions of African Americans and other underrepresented groups in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” according to his campaign website.

He recently joined Virginia leaders in responding to a report about campus culture at the Virginia Military Institute, which found that institutional racism and sexism were present and tolerated at the school.

Bagby also participated in a May roundtable hosted by Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, to discuss reforming Virginia’s justice system. Jones is running for Virginia attorney general, and was endorsed by Bagby last year.

In the 2021 special session, Bagby was the chief patron of five bills, which spanned topics including local health, employment, the environment and voting. He sits on four committees in the House: education, labor and commerce, rule and transportation.

Bagby also sponsored a series of legislation to speed up COVID-19 vaccine rollout and authorize widespread vaccine administration in the Commonwealth.

Bagby noted that the legislation he championed was important to legislators across all parties.