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Lee Ware

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Lee Ware
Republican Party
Virginia House of Delegates District 72
Tenure
2024 - Present
Term ends
2028
Years in position
2
Predecessor: Schuyler VanValkenburg (D)
Prior offices:
Virginia House of Delegates District 65
Years in office: 1998 - 2024
Successor: Joshua Cole (D)
Compensation
Base salary
$17,640/year
Per diem
$237/day
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 4, 2025
Education
Bachelor's
Wheaton College
Graduate
Harvard College
Personal
Religion
Christian: Catholic
Profession
Teacher
Contact
Official website
Personal LinkedIn

Lee Ware (Republican Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 72. He assumed office on January 10, 2024. His current term ends on January 12, 2028.

Ware (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 72. He won in the general election on November 4, 2025.

Biography

Ware earned his B.A. from Wheaton College in 1974 and his M.A. from Harvard College.

Prior to joining the House, Ware served as chair for Board of Supervisors of Powhatan County from 1988 to 1996 and chair of the Powhatan County Social Services Board from 1992 to 1996. He served on the Virginia State Board of Education from 1995 to 1997.[1]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Ware was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Ware was assigned to the following committees:

2020-2021

Ware was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Ware was assigned to the following committees:

2016 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Ware served on the following committees:

Virginia committee assignments, 2016
• Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
• Commerce and Labor
• Finance, Chair
• Rules

2015 legislative session

In the 2015 legislative session, Ware served on the following committees:

2014 legislative session

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

2012-2013

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

2010-2011

In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Ware 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

2025

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2025

General election

General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 72

Incumbent Lee Ware defeated Randolph Critzer and Kristin Farry in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 72 on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lee Ware
Lee Ware (R)
 
61.6
 
27,963
Image of Randolph Critzer
Randolph Critzer (D)
 
36.1
 
16,380
Image of Kristin Farry
Kristin Farry (Forward Party) Candidate Connection
 
1.9
 
853
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
203

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

Total votes: 45,399
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 House of Delegates District 72

Randolph Critzer defeated Bilal Raychouni in the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 72 on June 17, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Randolph Critzer
Randolph Critzer
 
60.6
 
2,818
Image of Bilal Raychouni
Bilal Raychouni
 
39.4
 
1,833

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

Total votes: 4,651
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

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lee Ware advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 72.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ware in this election.

2023

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2023

General election

General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 72

Incumbent Lee Ware defeated Bilal Raychouni in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 72 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lee Ware
Lee Ware (R)
 
68.1
 
22,684
Image of Bilal Raychouni
Bilal Raychouni (D)
 
31.8
 
10,585
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
64

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

Total votes: 33,333
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

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Bilal Raychouni advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 72.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lee Ware advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 72.

Endorsements

Ware received the following endorsements.

2021

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2021

General election

General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 65

Incumbent Lee Ware defeated Caitlin Coakley in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 65 on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lee Ware
Lee Ware (R)
 
66.0
 
33,621
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Caitlin Coakley (D)
 
33.8
 
17,235
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
75

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

Total votes: 50,931
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

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Caitlin Coakley advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 65.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lee Ware advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 65.

Campaign finance

2019

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019

General election

General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 65

Incumbent Lee Ware defeated Mike Asip in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 65 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lee Ware
Lee Ware (R)
 
65.0
 
24,751
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Mike Asip (D)
 
34.9
 
13,273
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
26

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

Total votes: 38,050
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.

2017

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017

General election

Elections for the Virginia House of Delegates took place in 2017. All 100 house seats were up for election. The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on June 13, 2017. The filing deadline for primary election candidates was March 30, 2017. The filing deadline for non-party candidates and candidates nominated by methods other than a primary was June 13, 2017.[2] Incumbent Lee Ware (R) defeated Francis Stevens (D) in the Virginia House of Delegates District 65 general election.[3]

Virginia House of Delegates, District 65 General Election, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Lee Ware Incumbent 64.12% 22,394
     Democratic Francis Stevens 35.88% 12,530
Total Votes 34,924
Source: Virginia Department of Elections

Democratic primary election

Francis Stevens ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 65 Democratic primary.[4]

Ballotpedia will publish vote totals here after they become available.
Virginia House of Delegates, District 65 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate
Green check mark transparent.png Francis Stevens

Republican primary election

Incumbent Lee Ware ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 65 Republican primary.[5]

Ballotpedia will publish vote totals here after they become available.
Virginia House of Delegates, District 65 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate
Green check mark transparent.png Lee Ware Incumbent

2015

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2015

Elections for the Virginia House of Delegates 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.[6] Incumbent Lee Ware was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[7][8]

2013

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2013

Ware won re-election in the 2013 election for Virginia House of Delegates District 65. Ware ran unopposed in the June 11th Republican Primary. He defeated William E. Quarles (D) in the general election on November 5, 2013.[9]

Virginia House of Delegates, District 65 General Election, 2013
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngLee Ware Incumbent 67.6% 19,839
     Democratic William E. Quarles 32.1% 9,431
     Other Write-in 0.3% 76
Total Votes 29,346

2011

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2011

On November 8, 2011, Ware won re-election to District 65 of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was uncontested in the August 23 primary and ran unopposed in the November 8 general election.[10]

2009

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2009

In 2009, Ware was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.[11]

Virginia House of Delegates General Election, District 65 (2009)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Lee Ware (R) 21,187
Gary Reinhardt (I) 8,682

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Lee Ware did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2023

Lee Ware did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Lee Ware did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Lee Ware did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

2017

As of August 2017, Ware’s website highlighted the following campaign themes:[12]

“

Improving Education

As the father of four children, each of whom was graduated from our public schools, Delegate Lee Ware understands the vital importance of parent-and-teacher cooperation in the creation and maintenance of outstanding schools. His wife, Kathy, as a PTO leader, complemented this devotion for many years.

Like you, Lee Ware is a taxpayer. Like you, he understands that voters rightly expect state government to maximize the efficiency of the public purse—including in administering taxpayer dollars for education. This is why he champions strict fiscal discipline in state spending generally, and this is why he works to funnelDelegate Lee Ware on Education taxpayer dollars to the classroom. Lee Ware has helped engineer a 123% increase in state funds for Chesterfield Schools during his decade as our Delegate. For Powhatan Schools the increase has been 175%.

Attracting and retaining the best-qualified teachers, and ensuring that our children are given every opportunity to experience—and to excel—in the adventure of learning, are among his legislative priorities.

Named Virginia’s ‘Outstanding Teacher on the Constitution’ in an annual ceremony by the John Marshall Foundation, and the first public school teacher appointed to the State Board of Education, Lee Ware brings the unique experience of the classroom to the Capitol for his constituents. To him, education is both a personal career and a public commitment.

  • For full state support of local schools' obligations
  • For the highest academic standards - - and opportunities
  • For merit pay for outstanding teachers
  • For salaries sufficient to attract and retain the best teachers
  • For rigorous academic standards
  • For maintaining decision-making authority at the local level
  • For proper benefits for all educational personnel
  • For local control of the school-year calendar

Good Growth and Transportation

Virginia's transportation issues are a growth issue and Delegate Lee Ware believes we need a state-wide transportation reform plan that addresses both road construction as well as development and growth.

Delegate Ware also supports additional rail improvements that help take cars off our roads and enable families to spend more time with one another - not stuck in traffic.

As both a county supervisor and now as a legislator, Delegate Ware has worked for comprehensive planning that balances commercial development and residential expansion.

He crafted the legislation that enhanced Virginia's conservation easements, leading to the preservation of 220,000 acres—and also of numerous family farms.

His bill of the 2009 Session to create "green roof" incentives for environmentally-friendly building was passed into law. And another of his 2009 bills—to enable counties to better preserve Virginia's 3,000 miles of "scenic byways" —was passed by the House of Delegates.

As vice chairman of the House committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources, Delegate Ware is a leader on every issue of importance to Virginia’s largest industry, to restoring the Bay, and to the wise use—and also the faithful renewal—of the resources of nature that make Virginia both bountiful and beautiful. His advocacy of wise land use and urban design contributes both to our prosperity and to the attractiveness of the communities in which we live.

Taxes and Spending

It seems that everyday there is a story about how government spending is increasing and taxpayers are shelling out more money. Delegate Ware supports keeping the rate of growth of governmental taxing and spending in balance with economic conditions in the private sector.

Like you, Lee expects government to use fiscal restraint when spending our hard-earned tax dollars, and he believes that providing tax incentives to businesses - not more governmental spending - is the key to spurring economic recovery.

[13]

”

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.

Lee Ware campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2023Virginia House of Delegates District 72Won general$301,653 $254,272
2021Virginia House of Delegates District 65Won general$172,780 $153,293
Grand total$474,433 $407,565
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

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.

In 2011, the Virginia General Assembly was either not in session or no scorecards were found. Please contact us if you would like to suggest a scorecard.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Ware and his wife, Kathleen, have four children.

See also

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External links

Officeholder

Virginia House of Delegates District 72
  • Website
    		•

    Personal

  • LinkedIn
    		•

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed May 28, 2014
    2. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Candidacy Requirements for the November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed March 21, 2017
    3. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General Unofficial Results," accessed November 7, 2017
    4. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Democratic Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
    5. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Republican Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
    6. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
    7. ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 Primary election results," accessed September 1, 2015
    8. ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed September 1, 2015
    9. ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, “Official Results - 2013 General Election," accessed December 2, 2013
    10. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 2011 General Election Official Results," accessed May 15, 2014
    11. ↑ Follow the Money, "Virginia House of Delegates 2009 General Election Results," accessed May 15, 2014
    12. ↑ Lee Ware, "On the Issues," accessed August 23,2017
    13. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Schuyler VanValkenburg (D)     		Virginia House of Delegates District 72
    2024-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    -     		Virginia House of Delegates District 65
    1998-2024    		 Succeeded by
    Joshua Cole (D)


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    Majority Leader:Charniele Herring
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