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Lynwood Lewis

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Lynwood Lewis
Democratic Party
Prior offices:
Virginia State Senate District 6
Years in office: 2014 - 2024
Successor: Todd Pillion (R)
Virginia House of Delegates District 100
Years in office: 2004 - 2014
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2019
Education
Bachelor's
Hampden-Sydney College
Law
University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law
Personal
Religion
Christian: Methodist
Profession
Attorney
Contact
Personal Facebook

Lynwood Lewis (Democratic Party) was a member of the Virginia State Senate, representing District 6. He assumed office on January 28, 2014. He left office on January 10, 2024.

Lewis (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia State Senate to represent District 6. He won in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Lewis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Lewis earned his B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College in 1984 and his J.D. from the T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond in 1988. He is an attorney.[1]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Lewis was assigned to the following committees:

2020-2021

Lewis was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Lewis was assigned to the following committees:

2016 legislative session

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

Virginia committee assignments, 2016
• Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
• Education and Health
• Local Government

2015 legislative session

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

2014 legislative session

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

2012-2013

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

2010-2011

In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Lewis 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

Lynwood Lewis did not file to run for re-election.

2019

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2019

General election

General election for Virginia State Senate District 6

Incumbent Lynwood Lewis defeated Elizabeth Lankford in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 6 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lynwood Lewis
Lynwood Lewis (D) Candidate Connection
 
59.7
 
25,772
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Elizabeth Lankford (R)
 
40.2
 
17,357
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
69

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

Total votes: 43,198
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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 6

Incumbent Lynwood Lewis defeated Willie Randall in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 6 on June 11, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lynwood Lewis
Lynwood Lewis Candidate Connection
 
70.6
 
4,559
Image of Willie Randall
Willie Randall Candidate Connection
 
29.4
 
1,899
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
1

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

Total votes: 6,459
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.[2] Incumbent Lynwood Lewis was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Richard Ottinger was unopposed in the Republican primary. Lewis defeated Ottinger in the general election.[3]

Virginia State Senate, District 6 General Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLynwood Lewis Incumbent 59.5% 16,738
     Republican Richard Ottinger 40.5% 11,386
Total Votes 28,124

2014

See also: Virginia state legislative special elections, 2014

Lynwood Lewis (D) defeated Wayne Coleman (R) in the special election.[4] Initial returns showed Lewis leading by only 22 votes,[5] within the range of a recount. Official results published by the State Board of Elections declared Lewis the winner by nine votes, leading Coleman to seek a recount.[6] Following the recount, Lewis was declared the winner by eleven votes.[7][8]

The seat was vacant following Ralph Northam's (D) election as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on November 5, 2013.

A special election for the position of Virginia State Senate District 6 was called for January 7. Candidates were nominated by their party rather than chosen through a primary.[9]

Virginia State Senate, District 6, Special Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLynwood Lewis 50% 10,201
     Republican Wayne Coleman 50% 10,192
Total Votes 20,393

2013

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2013

Lewis won re-election in the 2013 election for Virginia House of Delegates District 100. Lewis ran unopposed in the June 11th Democratic Primary and defeated John W. Smith, Jr. (I) in the general election on November 5, 2013.[10]

Virginia House of Delegates, District 100 General Election, 2013
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLynwood Lewis Incumbent 70.9% 13,100
     Independent John W. Smith, Jr. 28.7% 5,310
     Other Write-in 0.4% 75
Total Votes 18,485

2011

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2011

On November 8, 2011, Lewis won re-election to District 100 of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was uncontested in the August 23 primary and ran unopposed in the November 8 general election.[11]

2009

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2009

In 2009, Lewis was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.[12]

Virginia House of Delegates General Election, District 100 (2009)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Lynwood Lewis (D) 8,476
Melody Scalley (R) 4,604
John Smith (I) 149

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Lynwood Lewis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lewis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Public Education: This should be every elected's first priority, including expanding access to quality pre-K programs and addressing the school to prison pipeline in addition to funding our schools, improving infrastructure and continuing to raise teacher pay

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: I have already passed several pieces of legislation that have led to big steps forward in addressing sea level rise and coastal flooding, including the creation of a cabinet-level advisor to the Governor on Coastal Flooding and Adaptation, the creation of a coastal resiliency fund and a constitutional amendment to allow localities to encourage homeowners to take resiliency measures on their properties through tax abatement. There is still much that can be done, including joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and using those revenues to address energy efficiency, coastal resiliency and renewable energy jobs.

Economic Development: This is the same District I grew up in. There is nothing I want more than to see it grow, prosper and thrive. This means supporting and investing in the industries and opportunities that already exist here -- and working to diversify our economy to attract and retain new workers and families. It also means continuing to expand access to quality public education, quality health care and investing in our digital infrastructure to ensure opportunity for all.
Public Education: The K-12 public education system is fundamental to the progress of our society, and, as a state elected official I am firm in my stance that it is our constitutional duty to fund our schools and work towards a system of equity in opportunity.

Climate Change/Sea Level Rise: This is an issue for the 6th District that is not only environmental -- it is an issue of public safety, quality of life and future of economic development for our region. I want future generations to be able to access and enjoy the same beautiful coastal region I was blessed to grow up in.

Gerrymandering: I have no idea what the 6th Senate District would look like in a system of non-partisan redistricting or what it would mean for my re-election. That does not matter. Because of partisan gerrymandering, our system of government is fundamentally broken. Elected officials should not be picking their voters -- that is not how this is supposed to work.
Honesty and integrity. Our biggest hurdle right now is - understandably - a lack of public trust. It is critical that we elect leaders who serve with both honesty and integrity as we work to regain that public trust; without it, our democracy may never recover and we certainly won't be able to create the change and opportunity that Virginians deserve.
Maintain the public trust, listen to and be accessible to constituents and make government and policy more accessible to those to whom the government belongs to: the people.
I'd like to be remembered as a policy leader who did his best to listen to voters and serve the Districts I was elected to serve with honor and dignity. Since I've begun serving, our biggest policy achievement has been expanding Medicaid and thus quality health care access to hundreds of thousands of Virginians. If that becomes the legacy of myself and those I've served with, I would be very proud to wear that badge.
Yes, I do.
The effects of climate change and diversifying our economy from over reliance on the federal government.
Yes. In order to create and implement effective public policy, you must develop strong working relationships with your colleagues.
What is called the "Iowa" model -- the current redistricting system in Iowa is the gold standard. Ideally, there would be no elected legislators involved in the drawing of the legislative maps.

That being said, I support the current compromise before the Virginia General Assembly. It is a strong step forward and I'm not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
While we don't pick our own committees, I am especially proud to serve on the Education and Health Committee and the Agricultural, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee as they address top priorities in the 6th District: public education and sea level rise.
I've heard many incredible and impactful stories throughout my years as a legislator, particularly as it pertains to access to health care and the restoration of rights for felons. As a policymaker, each testimony regarding how life-changing finally being able to see a doctor after years without healthcare or about how empowering it felt for an individual to finally be able to vote after years of fighting to have their constitutional rights restored is just as moving as the one before it. These stories are always a powerful reminder of the importance of the work we do as elected leaders, and are both humbling and a source of guidance.

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.

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and 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 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


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Lewis and his wife, Megan, have one child.

See also

2019 Elections

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External links

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed May 28, 2014
    2. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
    3. ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed August 21, 2015
    4. ↑ sbe.virginia.gov, "Official candidate list," accessed December 13, 2013
    5. ↑ washingtonpost.com, "Va. Senate control hangs in balance as Democrat leads special election by 22 votes," January 7, 2014
    6. ↑ bradblog.com, "Another VA 'Recount' Coming: 9-Vote Margin in Special Election for Control of State Senate," January 10, 2014
    7. ↑ Washington Post, "Democrat wins Virginia Senate recount, giving Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s agenda a crucial boost," January 27, 2014
    8. ↑ Virginia Secretary of State, "Official special election results," accessed January 30, 2014
    9. ↑ wvec.com, "Special Election in Senate District 6 set for January 7th," December 6, 2013 (dead link)
    10. ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, “Official Results - 2013 General Election," accessed December 2, 2013
    11. ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "November 2011 General Election Official Results," accessed May 15, 2014
    12. ↑ Follow the Money, "Virginia House of Delegates 2009 General Election Results," accessed May 15, 2014

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		Virginia State Senate District 6
    2014-2024    		 Succeeded by
    Todd Pillion (R)
    Preceded by
    -     		Virginia House of Delegates District 100
    2004-2014    		 Succeeded by
    -


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