Louise Lucas

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Louise Lucas
Democratic Party
Virginia State Senate District 18
Tenure
1992 - Present
Term ends
2028
Years in position
34
Compensation
Base salary
$18,000/year
Per diem
$237/day
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 7, 2023
Education
Bachelor's
Norfolk State University
Graduate
Norfolk State University
Personal
Religion
African Methodist Episcopal
Profession
Deaconess
Contact
Official website
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Personal Facebook
Personal LinkedIn

Louise Lucas (Democratic Party) is a member of the Virginia State Senate, representing District 18. She assumed office in 1992. Her current term ends on January 12, 2028.

Lucas (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia State Senate to represent District 18. She won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Lucas has served as state 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:

2023-2024

Lucas was assigned to the following committees:

2020-2021

Lucas was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Lucas was assigned to the following committees:

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:

2014 legislative session

In the 2014 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:

2012-2013

In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:

2010-2011

In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Lucas served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 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

Incumbent Louise Lucas defeated Tony Goodwin in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 18 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Louise Lucas
Louise Lucas (D)
 
58.9
 
28,668
Image of Tony Goodwin
Tony Goodwin (R) Candidate Connection
 
40.7
 
19,828
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
203

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 48,699
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 18

Incumbent Louise Lucas defeated incumbent Lionell Spruill in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 18 on June 20, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Louise Lucas
Louise Lucas
 
53.1
 
9,614
Image of Lionell Spruill
Lionell Spruill
 
46.9
 
8,484

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 18,098
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 18

Tony Goodwin defeated Merle Rutledge in the Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 18 on June 10, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tony Goodwin
Tony Goodwin Candidate Connection
 
87.9
 
175
Image of Merle Rutledge
Merle Rutledge
 
12.1
 
24

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 199
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Lucas received the following endorsements.

2019

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2019

General election

General election for Virginia State Senate District 18

Incumbent Louise Lucas won election in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 18 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Louise Lucas
Louise Lucas (D)
 
92.5
 
43,021
 Other/Write-in votes
 
7.5
 
3,494

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 46,515
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2015

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2015

Elections for the Virginia State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 9, 2015. The general election took place on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 26, 2015.[4] Incumbent Louise Lucas was unopposed in the Democratic primary. No Republican candidates filed for election. Lucas was unchallenged in the general election.[5]

2011

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2011

On November 8, 2011, Lucas won re-election to District 18 of the Virginia State Senate. She was unchallenged in the August 23 primary and ran unopposed in the November 8 general election.[6]

2007

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2007

On Nov. 6, 2007, Lucas won re-election to the 18th District Seat in the Virginia State Senate.[7]

Lucas raised $133,133 for her campaign.[8]

Virginia State Senate, District 18 (2007)
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png 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 complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Louise Lucas did not complete Ballotpedia'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 to The 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 the Richmond 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 the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Louise Lucas campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2023Virginia State Senate District 18Won general$2,834,265 $2,432,463
2019Virginia State Senate District 18Won general$425,401 N/A**
Grand total$3,259,666 $2,432,463
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election 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

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in Virginia

A scorecard 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 scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2025.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2024.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2023.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2022.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2020.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2019.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2018.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2017.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2016.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2015.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2014.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2013.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Virginia General Assembly in 2012.

See also

2023 Elections

Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
What's on the ballot?
U.S. Congress special elections
State executives
State legislatures
State courts
Ballot measures
Municipal government
School boards
Election analysis hub

Government

Seal of Virginia.png
Who represents me?
U.S. Congress
State executives
State legislators
State courts
Ballot measures
Municipal government
School boards

Newsletters

Ballotpedia RSS.jpg
The Daily Brew
The Weekly Brew
The Ballot Bulletin
Checks and Balances
Economy and Society
Hall Pass
Number of the Day
Robe & Gavel
Union Station


External links

Candidate

Virginia State Senate District 18
  • Website
  • Facebook
    		•

    Officeholder

    Virginia State Senate District 18
  • Website
    		•

    Personal

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
    		•

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Brunswick Times-Gazette, "Lucas elected President Pro Tempore of Virginia Senate," December 14, 2019
    2. ↑ Virginia Senate, "L. Louise Lucas," accessed May 19, 2022
    3. ↑ Library of Virginia, "L. LOUISE LUCAS (1944 - )," accessed May 19, 2022
    4. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
    5. ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed August 21, 2015
    6. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 2011 General Election Official Results," accessed May 15, 2014
    7. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 6, 2007 General Election Official Results," accessed May 28, 2014
    8. ↑ Follow the Money, "2007 Campaign contributions," accessed May 28, 2014
    9. ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia Sen. L. Louise Lucas charged with felonies over Portsmouth’s Confederate Monument protest," August 17, 2020
    10. ↑ 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
    -


    Current members of the Virginia State Senate
    Leadership
    Majority Leader:Scott Surovell
    Minority Leader:Ryan McDougle
    Senators
    District 1
    District 2
    District 3
    District 4
    District 5
    District 6
    District 7
    District 8
    District 9
    District 10
    District 11
    District 12
    District 13
    District 14
    District 15
    District 16
    District 17
    District 18
    District 19
    District 20
    District 21
    District 22
    District 23
    District 24
    District 25
    District 26
    District 27
    District 28
    District 29
    District 30
    District 31
    District 32
    District 33
    District 34
    District 35
    District 36
    District 37
    District 38
    District 39
    District 40
    Democratic Party (21)
    Republican Party (19)


    Flag of Virginia
    v • e
    State of Virginia
    Richmond (capital)
    Elections

    What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2026 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

    Government

    Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy





    Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Louise_Lucas&oldid=11075122"