Laura Jane Cohen
2024 - Present
2026
1
Laura Jane Cohen (Democratic Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 15. She assumed office on January 10, 2024. Her current term ends on January 14, 2026.
Cohen (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 15. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source] The Democratic primary for this office on June 17, 2025, was canceled.
Biography
Laura Jane Cohen was born in Georgia and lives in Fairfax County, Virginia. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science and government from the University of Georgia. Cohen's career experience includes working for the Democratic lieutenant governor and secretary of state of Georgia, as director of outreach for a national Parkinson’s nonprofit in Fairfax County, as a preschool and substitute teacher, and as a small business owner. Cohen became a volunteer for Moms Demand Action. She was elected to the Springfield District school board.[1][2]
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 15
Incumbent Laura Jane Cohen and Saundra Davis are running in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 15 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Laura Jane Cohen (D) | |
 | Saundra Davis (R)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Laura Jane Cohen advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 15.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Saundra Davis advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 15.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Cohen 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 15
Laura Jane Cohen defeated Marcus Evans in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 15 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Jane Cohen (D) | 61.9 | 19,394 |
 | Marcus Evans (R) | 37.9 | 11,880 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 81 | ||
| Total votes: 31,355 | |||
| = 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
- Anna LaNave (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 15
Laura Jane Cohen defeated Eric Schmidt and Henri' Thompson in the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 15 on June 20, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Jane Cohen | 65.9 | 6,063 |
 | Eric Schmidt | 26.7 | 2,457 | |
 | Henri' Thompson | 7.4 | 682 | |
| Total votes: 9,202 | |||
| = 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
The Republican primary election was canceled. Marcus Evans advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 15.
Endorsements
Cohen received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Cohen's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.
2019
See also: Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Fairfax County Public Schools, Springfield District
Laura Jane Cohen defeated incumbent Elizabeth Schultz and R.K. McDaniel in the general election for Fairfax County Public Schools, Springfield District on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Jane Cohen (Nonpartisan) | 50.5 | 19,910 |
 | Elizabeth Schultz (Nonpartisan) | 41.9 | 16,517 | |
| R.K. McDaniel (Nonpartisan) | 7.4 | 2,898 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 85 | ||
| Total votes: 39,410 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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
- Robert Walter (Nonpartisan)
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2023
Laura Jane Cohen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cohen's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I grew up in a family of educators in Georgia. After studying political science in college, I worked for the Lt. Governor and Secretary Of State of Georgia and was the director of outreach for a national Parkinson’s Org before moving to Fairfax County in 2001.
After having my kids, I began teaching preschool and subbing in elementary school. I spent 9 years on our PTA board, including being PTA President for 2 years. In 2015, I opened a vintage furniture shop in Clifton and began navigating the world of small business ownership (though I no longer own it, I still love working on furniture in my free time!).
We need real answers and ideas about how we reinvigorate our schools, close achievement gaps, and get people excited about living, working and learning in our Commonwealth. I'm excited to bring my experience as a mom, a teacher, a Moms Demand Action volunteer, and a school board member, to the House of Delegates.
- Gun violence prevention - A longtime Moms Demand Action volunteer, I will fight to prevent gun violence and stop the NRA. I will work to strengthen Virginia’s secure storage and “red flag” laws, disarm domestic abusers, require microstamping and childproofing for new handguns, and prohibit high-capacity magazines, untraceable “ghost guns,” and assault-style weapons.
- Public education - I will empower our librarians & teachers to decide which books are best for our students and make sure our kids are taught accurate & reflective history. I will also work to increase teacher & staff pay, address staffing shortages, & fund universal PreK & workforce development.
- Abortion rights - I will fight to defend abortion access and enshrine reproductive freedom into Virginia’s constitution. I’ll also fight for comprehensive insurance coverage for reproductive health services, including family planning, abortion care, and prenatal and postpartum care for all Virginians.
Since then, I’ve been honored to serve my community on the School Board and have succeeded in expanding protections and benefits for our teachers and staff and providing students with more opportunities to succeed. I have also seen, firsthand, the damage that having a Governor and House of Delegates who are intent on destroying public education has done to our schools and communities. The far-right’s talk of banning books and erasing history, and their attacks on trans children, healthcare, the environment, and gun violence prevention are far from pro-family and run counter to everything I believe. I am the pro-working families candidate in this race - it’s important not just to elect any Democrat, but the right Democrat. One who will fight for the hardworking families and folks of HD-15 and across the Commonwealth to access healthcare, benefits, and high-quality education.
Gerry Connolly, US Congressman (VA-11)
Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, 56th Speaker of the VA House
Del. Kathy Tran
Del. Dan Helmer
James Walkinshaw, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Braddock District
Jeff Mckay, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Chair
Rachna Sizemore Heizer, Fairfax County School Board, Chair
Sen. Jennifer Boysko
Del. David Bulova
Del. Irene Shin
Del. Marcus Simon
Organizations:
Fairfax County Federation of Teachers
Fairfax Education Association
FCPS Pride
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund
EMILYs List
LGBTQ Victory Fund
Repro Rising
Clean Virginia
LPAC
Mid-Atlantic Pipe Trades Association
ATU Local 689
National Women’s Political Caucus VA
VA NOW
LiUNA! Baltimore Washington Laborers’ District Council
CASA in Action!
Bold Progressives PAC
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2019
Laura Jane Cohen 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.
See also
2025 Elections
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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External links
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Candidate Virginia House of Delegates District 15 |
Officeholder Virginia House of Delegates District 15 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Todd Gilbert (R) |
Virginia House of Delegates District 15 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Fairfax County Public Schools, Springfield District 2019-2023 |
Succeeded by - |
