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Don Scott (Virginia)
2024 - Present
2026
1
Don Scott (Democratic Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 88. He assumed office on January 10, 2024. His current term ends on January 14, 2026.
Scott became speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates on January 10, 2024.[1] He is the first black speaker in Virginia's history.[1]
Scott was born in Houston, Texas, in 1965.[2][3] After receiving a bachelor's degree in agriculture education from Texas A&M University in 1987, Scott served in the U.S. Navy from 1988 to 1991.[2] During his military service, Scott decided to pursue a legal career after serving as a legal officer on the USS John Hancock.[4] In 1994, Scott received a J.D. from Louisiana State University.[2]
In 2005, Scott began working at the workforce development company KRA Corporation and relocated to Portsmouth, Virginia.[5] Ten years later, Scott passed the Virginia Bar Exam and founded the Law Office of Don Scott, PLLC.[4] In 2022, Scott joined Breit Biniazan, P.C. as a partner.[6]
In 2019, Scott was elected to represent District 80 in the state House after defeating Jim Evans (R) 66% to 23%. During his campaign, Scott's platform focused on expanding access to healthcare, raising the minimum wage, and improving education.[7] After voters re-elected him to represent the district in 2021 by a margin of 32 percentage points, redistricting moved him to District 88 in 2023.
As a result of the 2021 general elections, Democrats lost control of the state House. In response, Scott helped organize a vote to remove Rep. Eileen Filler-Corn (D) as the chamber's minority leader.[8] State House Democrats ultimately elected Scott as minority leader on June 1, 2022.[9]
After Democrats regained control of the state House following the 2023 general elections, the chamber's Democrats elected Scott to serve as speaker of the state House.[1] On his legacy as speaker, Scott said, "I want to be remembered for the person that was the first African-American [speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates], but I was also efficient, excellent, capable and got the job done."[10]
According to his campaign website, Scott's legislative priorities during his tenure included "strengthening Virginia's public schools, improving healthcare quality and affordability, and criminal justice reform."[5] Scott said the latter is informed by his own experience of being convicted of a drug offense in 1994 after police arrested him while he was carrying money that was tied to a drug dealer.[11] Following his conviction, Scott was incarcerated in a federal prison for approximately eight years.[11] In 2013, Scott successfully petitioned Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell (R) to restore his voting rights.[12] In 2025, President Joe Biden (D) issued a pardon for Scott.[13]
Biography
Don Scott was born in Houston, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural education from Texas A&M University in 1987 and a J.D. from Louisiana State University in 1994. His career experience includes working as an attorney.[14]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Scott was assigned to the following committees:
2020-2021
Scott was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
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
2025
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2025
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 88
Incumbent Don Scott is running in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 88 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Don Scott (D) | |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Don Scott advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 88.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Scott received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2023
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2023
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 88
Incumbent Don Scott defeated Jim Wright in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 88 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don Scott (D) | 66.3 | 12,240 |
| Jim Wright (R) | 33.3 | 6,145 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 66 | ||
| Total votes: 18,451 | |||
| = 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
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Don Scott advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 88.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Jim Wright advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 88.
Endorsements
Scott received the following endorsements.
2021
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2021
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 80
Incumbent Don Scott defeated Deanna Stanton in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 80 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don Scott (D) | 66.1 | 15,703 |
| Deanna Stanton (R) | 33.7 | 8,012 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 51 | ||
| Total votes: 23,766 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Thomas DuBois (Independent)
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Don Scott advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 80.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Deanna Stanton advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 80.
Campaign finance
2019
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 80
Don Scott defeated Jim Evans and Ryan Collin Benton in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 80 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don Scott (D) | 66.0 | 12,027 |
| Jim Evans (R) | 23.2 | 4,236 | ||
| Ryan Collin Benton (Independent) | 10.6 | 1,930 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 27 | ||
| Total votes: 18,220 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Matthew James (D)
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2023
Don Scott did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Don Scott did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Don Scott did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
Scorecards
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 Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Virginia 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, the Virginia 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, the Virginia 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, the Virginia 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, the Virginia 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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See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Virginia House of Delegates District 88 |
Officeholder Virginia House of Delegates District 88 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 CBS News, "Don Scott, sworn in as first Black speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates, was once a federal prison inmate," January 10, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Virginia General Assembly, "Delegate Don Scott," accessed May 6, 2025
- ↑ X, "@VaBlackCaucus on March 5, 2023," accessed May 6, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Breit Biniazan, P.C., "Don Scott," accessed May 6, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Don Scott Campaign Website, "About," accessed May 6, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Don Scott," accessed May 6, 2025
- ↑ WAVY, "Candidate Profile: Don Scott (District 80)," October 14, 2021
- ↑ Associated Press, "Virginia House Democrats vote to remove their leader," April 27, 2022
- ↑ Virginia Mercury, "Va. House Democrats pick Scott as new minority leader," June 1, 2022
- ↑ Axios, "Don Scott, Virginia’s first Black House speaker, on Youngkin, Trump and history," January 12, 2024
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Virginian-Pilot, "Before he was a prominent attorney in Portsmouth, Don Scott spent 7 years in federal prison," January 19, 2025
- ↑ The Washington Post, "As Don Scott becomes Va. speaker, emotion and an unexpected guest," January 10, 2024
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia House Speaker Don Scott receives pardon from President Biden," January 19, 2025
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "Delegate Don Scott," accessed January 8, 2024
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Phillip Scott (R) |
Virginia House of Delegates District 88 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Virginia House of Delegates District 80 2020-2024 |
Succeeded by Destiny LeVere Bolling (D) |
