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Mary Person

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Mary Person
Image of Mary Person

Candidate, Virginia House of Delegates District 83

Elections and appointments
Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

Graduate

Virginia Commonwealth University

Personal
Birthplace
Emporia, Va.
Profession
Principal
Contact

Mary Person (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 83. 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.

Person completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2025

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2025

General election

General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 83

Incumbent H. Otto Wachsmann Jr. and Mary Person are running in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 83 on November 4, 2025.


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

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Mary Person advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 83.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent H. Otto Wachsmann Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 83.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Person received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Person's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. 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 83

Incumbent H. Otto Wachsmann Jr. defeated Mary Person in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 83 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of H. Otto Wachsmann Jr.
H. Otto Wachsmann Jr. (R)
 
58.4
 
18,811
Image of Mary Person
Mary Person (D)
 
41.5
 
13,361
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
44

Total votes: 32,216
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. Mary Person advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 83.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent H. Otto Wachsmann Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 83.

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Mary Person completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Person's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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The youngest of five, Mary grew up learning leadership and independence, skills she carries into her work. As a teen, she participated in the NAACP youth council, which taught her leadership and tenacity, two qualities she utilizes today in her career and her community involvement. Mary’s life is grounded in her strong faith, deep family ties, and a legacy of civic leadership.

Mary Person is a proud Emporia native with over 26 years in public education, including 12 years working with children with autism. As a middle school principal, former Mayor, and City Council member, Mary has spent her life serving her community with heart and integrity.

Mary brings the experience and dedication we need to fight for working families in Richmond.

As mayor, Mary championed free community college scholarships, a first-time homebuyer program, and improved housing standards, while also enhancing neighborhood safety, and laying the groundwork for a regional workforce training center.
  • As a Delegate for District 83, creating jobs and attracting investment will be a top priority. We do not need more empty promises. We need job training that leads to real opportunity. Mary has a proven record of workforce advocacy. She intends to focus on building opportunities in our communities that attract new business and investment through education, workforce readiness, and training.
  • In rural communities like ours, getting to a doctor should not feel like a crisis. Mary is fighting to reverse the decline in healthcare services in all communities but especially in rural areas that have been hardest hit by the lack of healthcare facilities. The scarcity of healthcare options directly affects families and children and she will work to ensure that there are services to meet everyone’s needs.
  • Every child deserves a strong, fully funded public school with qualified teachers and safe classrooms. Mary opposes the misuse of school vouchers that divert funds from public education. She will invest in teachers, students, and classrooms and will expand early childhood education.
As a lifelong educator and former mayor of Emporia, I’ve spent my career working to strengthen communities through service, leadership, and a deep commitment to opportunity for all. I’m passionate about public policies that directly improve the lives of working families, strengthen our local schools, and protect the rights and dignity of every Virginian.

Education is at the top of my priorities. Every child in Virginia deserves access to a high-quality public education, regardless of their zip code. I'm committed to increasing support for our teachers, improving school infrastructure, and ensuring that students graduate with the skills they need to thrive in today’s economy.
For me, the most important qualities in an elected official are integrity, accountability, and a genuine commitment to public service. As a lifelong educator and former mayor of Emporia, I’ve learned that leadership is not about personal recognition, it’s about listening to your community, making thoughtful decisions, and always doing what’s right, even when it’s not easy.
I want to leave a legacy of service, integrity, and impact—a record that shows I always put people first. As a lifelong educator and former mayor of Emporia, I’ve dedicated my life to lifting up others, especially those whose voices too often go unheard. My hope is that when people look back on my work, they’ll see someone who fought for strong public schools, expanded opportunity for working families, and led with compassion.

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.

2023

Mary Person did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 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.


Mary Person campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2023Virginia House of Delegates District 83Lost general$35,857 $24,230
Grand total$35,857 $24,230
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

See also


External links

Footnotes


Current members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Don Scott
Majority Leader:Charniele Herring
Minority Leader:Terry Kilgore
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
Jas Singh (D)
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
Vacant
District 34
Tony Wilt (R)
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
Eric Zehr (R)
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
District 72
Lee Ware (R)
District 73
District 74
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
Don Scott (D)
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
District 96
District 97
District 98
District 99
District 100
Democratic Party (51)
Republican Party (48)
Vacancies (1)