The 2025 Virginia General Election is officially in the rearview mirror, and I am honored and humbled to once again be entrusted to represent the 42nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly, and I look forward to continuing my work toward lowering our cost of living, making our communities safer, and improving our educational system. As you know by now, Democrats expanded their majority in the House of Delegates, as well as won the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. It will be vitally important for you to stay engaged and advocate alongside me for the needs of our region. Interests in the General Assembly will likely continue to skew toward Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond, which means we must fight to ensure our area gets the attention that it deserves. I plan on working hard to that end when I return to Richmond for the 2026 General Assembly Legislative Session.
With this expanded majority in the House of Delegates, Democrats will be in prime position to push through their constitutional amendment to gerrymander Virginia’s congressional districts in their favor. The Democrat leader in the State Senate, Louise Lucas, maintains that she wants to draw a map that has Virginia represented by ten Democrats and one Republican. Currently, Virginia is represented by six Democrats and five Republicans. This would be a major shift in how Virginians are represented at the federal level of government, and barring a court decision that blocks this attempt, it would go to the voters in the form of a referendum as early as this spring. This would be the best chance for voters to push back against this blatant power grab.
Also at risk is Virginia’s standing as a right-to-work state. Our right-to-work policy ensures that while Virginia’s employees have every right to unionize, they cannot be compelled to do so or pay union dues if they do not want to be represented by a union. When it comes to attracting large-scale economic investment, the fact that the Commonwealth is a right-to-work state plays a large role for many companies as they decide where to locate or expand. Governor-elect Spanberger will face great pressure from the left-wing of the new General Assembly to do away with our right-to-work status, and the fallout from that would greatly diminish our prospects to entice new manufacturing or other large-scale business to invest in Virginia.
An issue that Republicans will continue to fight for is an “all of the above” energy policy that ensure our Commonwealth does not experience rolling blackouts due to poor government planning and policy decisions. Democrats will likely seek to expand upon “Green New Deal” style laws that rely solely on if the sun is shining or if the wind is blowing, all while importing expensive electricity from other states. This will be catastrophic in terms of the cost and reliability of electricity moving forward, and Republicans will continue to strongly push back against these programs.
Although the statewide losses are disappointing to Virginia Republicans, we look forward to working with the newly constituted House of Delegates and the administration of Governor-elect Spanberger on issues where we can find common ground, and we will continue to fight back against policies that would make the cost of living more expensive and our communities less safe.
As the Delegate representing the 42nd House District in the Virginia General Assembly, your concerns are my greatest priority. If ever I may be of assistance to you and your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at DelJBallard@House.Virginia.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter @JasonBallardVA or like my Facebook page, Jason Ballard for Delegate, to keep up to date with what I am doing in Richmond and in our community on your behalf.
