Henrico's VanValkenburg seeks move to Virginia Senate

Henrico Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg, who has represented the 72nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2018, has announced that he'll seek a move to the Virginia Senate in newly shaped District 16 next November.

If he earns the Democratic nomination for the seat, his likely opponent in the general election will be current 12th District Senator Siobhan Dunnavant, who has served in that role since 2016. Dunnavant reclaimed her seat in 2019 after staving off a challenge from another prominent Democratic House member, Debra Rodman, by just more than 1,300 votes out of more than 78,000 cast in the election. (Rodman gave up her seat in the 73rd House district after just one term to seek the Senate seat.)

“I’m announcing my run for the Virginia Senate because Henrico needs a leader who will fight for equality and women’s reproductive rights,” VanValkenburg wrote in a social media post Tuesday morning. “We need leaders who will focus on a strong middle-class economy, affordable health care and world class schools.

Redistricting last year drew VanValkenburg into the same 80th District as another powerful Henrico House Democrat, Lamont Bagby, raising questions about whether one of the two men would seek a Senate seat. The 80th District more generally reflects Bagby’s former 74th District than VanValkenburg’s 72nd.

Redistricting also gave Henrico, which previously had two Senate districts, a third one; the 16th generally includes western Henrico, the 14th northern Henrico and Richmond, and the 13th Eastern Henrico and a handful of other localities.

Democratic Senate incumbents Jennifer McClellan (14th) and Joe Morrissey (13th) both live within the boundaries of the two other newly shaped districts.

VanValkenburg is a social studies teacher at Glen Allen High School.