Lionell Spruill
Lionell Spruill (Democratic Party) was a member of the Virginia State Senate, representing District 5. He assumed office in 2016. He left office on January 10, 2024.
Spruill (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia State Senate to represent District 18. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 20, 2023.
Biography
Spruill earned his B.A. from Pacific Western University and his J.D. from Norfolk State University. Prior to his election to the House, Spruill served on the Chesapeake City Council from 1988 to 1993.[1]
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
Spruill was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, Chair
- Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
2020-2021
Spruill was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Senate Privileges and Elections Committee
- Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
2019-2020
Spruill was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Senate Privileges and Elections Committee
- Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee
2016 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Spruill served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2016 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Labor |
| • Counties, Cities and Towns |
| • Health, Welfare and Institutions |
| • Rules |
2015 legislative session
In the 2015 legislative session, Spruill served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Labor |
| • Counties, Cities and Towns |
| • Health, Welfare and Institutions |
| • Rules |
2014 legislative session
In the 2014 legislative session, Spruill served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2014 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Labor |
| • Counties, Cities and Towns |
| • Health, Welfare and Institutions |
2012-2013
In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Spruill served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2012 |
|---|
| • Counties, Cities and Towns |
| • Health, Welfare and Institutions |
| • Privileges and Elections |
2010-2011
In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Spruill served on the following committees:
| Virginia committee assignments, 2010 |
|---|
| • Privileges and Elections |
| • Counties, Cities and Towns |
| • Health, Welfare and Institutions |
Issues
Official tablet use
Spruill participated in an innovative experiment in the 2011 Virginia House that changed the way he does his business in the legislature. At age 64, and after 16 years in the House of Delegates, he was one of 15 House members to be issued a new iPad, rather than a traditional laptop computer. Spruill says that he used to duck out of sessions to get copies of the bills, and just tell his contacts to "give me a ...call on the phone." He is now using email, accessing copies of legislation on his iPad and texting on his phone. The success of the program is evident as Spruill explained: "Man, I love it...This iPad, you just zap-tap it." The goal of the program is to reduce the amount of paper the Delegates have to deal with in session.[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
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 | ||
| ✔ |  | Louise Lucas (D) | 58.9 | 28,668 |
 | Tony Goodwin (R)  | 40.7 | 19,828 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 203 | ||
| Total votes: 48,699 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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 | ||
| ✔ | | Louise Lucas | 53.1 | 9,614 |
 | Lionell Spruill | 46.9 | 8,484 | |
| Total votes: 18,098 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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 | ||
| ✔ | | Tony Goodwin | 87.9 | 175 |
 | Merle Rutledge | 12.1 | 24 | |
| Total votes: 199 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Spruill in this election.
2019
See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2019
General election
General election for Virginia State Senate District 5
Incumbent Lionell Spruill defeated Jeff Staples in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 5 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lionell Spruill (D) | 79.2 | 31,576 |
 | Jeff Staples (Independent) | 19.6 | 7,812 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.1 | 457 | ||
| Total votes: 39,845 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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2016
A special election for the position of Virginia State Senate District 5 was called for November 8.
The seat was vacant following Kenny Alexander's (D) election to the office of Norfolk mayor.
Del. Lionell Spruill (D) was unopposed in the special election.[3][4][5]
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 Lionell Spruill was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[7][8]
2013
Spruill won re-election in the 2013 election for Virginia House of Delegates District 77. Spruill ran unopposed in the June 11 Democratic primary. He was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 5, 2013.[9]
2011
On November 8, 2011, Spruill won re-election to District 77 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
In 2009, Spruill was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.[11]
| Virginia House of Delegates General Election, District 77 (2009) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
 Lionell Spruill (D)
|
12,108 | |||
Delegate Spruill speaking on redistricting |
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lionell Spruill did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Lionell Spruill 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.
2023
In 2023, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to February 25.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental and conservation issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the Second Amendment.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to education.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the manufacturing sector.
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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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through February 24.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 10 through March 10. Special sessions were held from April 11 to May 30 and from August 30 to October 30.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through February 25.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 13 through March 11.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 14 to February 28, 2015.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 8 through March 10.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 9 to February 25.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Virginia General Assembly was in regular session from January 11 to March 10.
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See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Stateline.org, "Virginia legislature launches iPad experiment," January 5, 2011
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 November General," accessed November 10, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Candidates," accessed October 19, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 November General," accessed November 28, 2016
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 Primary election results," accessed September 1, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed September 1, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, “Official Results - 2013 General Election," accessed December 2, 2013
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 2011 General Election Official Results," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Virginia House of Delegates 2009 General Election Results," accessed May 15, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Virginia State Senate District 5 2016-2024 |
Succeeded by Travis Hackworth (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Virginia House of Delegates District 77 1994-2016 |
Succeeded by - |
