A delegate in Virginia is one of the 100 members of the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the state’s two-part legislature, the General Assembly. Delegates serve two-year terms, write and vote on state laws, shape the two-year budget, elect the state’s judges, and act as the direct line between residents and state government. The current salary is $17,640 a year.1Virginia State Budget. Legislator Pay Increase – SB30 Floor Approved
Where a Delegate Sits in the General Assembly
Virginia’s General Assembly has two chambers, and both must pass identical versions of a bill before it goes to the Governor. The House of Delegates is the larger chamber with 100 members. The Senate of Virginia is the smaller one, with 40 members who serve four-year terms.2Virginia General Assembly. Virginia’s Legislature Neither chamber outranks the other on legislation, but each runs its own leadership, committees, and rules.
The House is roughly analogous to the U.S. House of Representatives at the federal level, or the “state house” in other states. Because delegates face voters every two years, the chamber tends to track shifts in public opinion more closely than the Senate does.
What a Delegate Actually Does
The core job is legislation. Any delegate can introduce a bill, which the Speaker then refers to a standing committee covering the relevant policy area, such as education, finance, transportation, or public safety. Most of the real work happens in those committees, where members review bills in detail, hear public testimony, and decide which proposals move to a floor vote.3Virginia General Assembly. Committees Bills that die in committee rarely get a second chance.
Setting the Budget
Virginia runs on a biennial budget. The General Assembly adopts a two-year spending plan in even-numbered years and amends it in odd-numbered years.4Virginia General Assembly. Budget Process That budget directs billions in state revenue to schools, roads, healthcare programs, and every other state function, and the negotiations tend to be the most contentious work delegates handle.
Electing Judges
Virginia is unusual here. The General Assembly, not the Governor, elects the state’s judges. Supreme Court justices serve 12-year terms and judges on all other courts of record serve eight-year terms, chosen by majority vote of the members elected to each chamber.5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Constitution, Article VI, Section 7 The House and Senate vote separately. The Governor can fill vacancies that open while the General Assembly is not in session, but those temporary appointees serve only until 30 days after the next session begins.6Division of Legislative Services. Judicial Selection This gives individual delegates direct influence over who sits on the bench, a power legislators in most states don’t have.
Helping Constituents
Between and during sessions, delegates spend a significant share of their time helping residents work through state government. A delegate’s office can intervene when someone is stuck with a state agency, whether the issue is the Department of Motor Vehicles, state taxes, a professional licensing complaint, or access to a benefits program. A delegate can’t override an agency’s decision, but a call from a legislator’s office tends to get attention a regular inquiry doesn’t. Delegates are also the usual channel for public input on pending bills. For many Virginians, the delegate is the most accessible elected official they have.
Who Can Run
The Virginia Constitution sets three requirements. At the time of the election, a candidate must be at least 21 years old, must live in the district they want to represent, and must be qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly.7Virginia Code Commission. Constitution of Virginia – Article IV Legislature A delegate who moves out of the district after winning the seat automatically forfeits it.
State election law adds a residency floor on top of the district requirement: any candidate for a Commonwealth office must have lived in Virginia for at least one year before the election.8Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 24.2-500 – Qualification of Candidates These qualifications have to be maintained throughout a delegate’s time in office, not just on election day.
Terms, Elections, and Term Limits
Each term runs two years and begins on the second Wednesday in January after the election.9Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 24.2-215 – Election and Term of Members of the House of Delegates All 100 seats appear on the ballot together in November of every odd-numbered year. Virginia has no term limits for delegates, so an incumbent can run as long as voters keep returning them. Some delegates have served for decades, and that seniority tends to translate into committee chairmanships and more influence inside the chamber.
The two-year cycle shapes the job. Delegates are almost always either legislating or campaigning, with little more than a year between the end of one session and the start of the next election season.
How the 100 Districts Get Drawn
Virginia is divided into 100 House districts, each represented by one delegate, with boundaries redrawn every ten years after the federal census to keep populations roughly equal.10Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 24.2 – Elections Since 2020, the lines have been drawn by the Virginia Redistricting Commission rather than by the General Assembly itself. The commission has 16 members: eight legislators split evenly between the parties in each chamber, and eight citizen members. A plan needs the support of at least six of the eight legislative commissioners and six of the eight citizen commissioners to pass. If the commission can’t agree or the General Assembly doesn’t adopt a plan, the Supreme Court of Virginia draws the maps.11Virginia Department of Elections. Proposed Amendments for 2020
Pay and Financial Disclosure
Virginia delegates are among the lowest-paid state legislators in the country. The base salary is $17,640 a year.1Virginia State Budget. Legislator Pay Increase – SB30 Floor Approved During sessions, delegates receive a per diem for expenses based on the federal General Services Administration rate for the Richmond area, and each member gets $1,250 a month year-round for office expenses and supplies. The low salary effectively limits who can afford to serve, since most delegates keep a separate career or other income. A budget amendment has been introduced to raise legislative pay to $50,000 a year starting in 2028, which would be the first significant increase in decades.
Every delegate has to file a statement of economic interests under Virginia’s General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act. These filings cover income sources, business associations, property holdings, gifts, and any financial ties to state agencies, and they are public records.12Virginia Code Commission. Article 5 – Disclosure Statements Required to Be Filed Delegates must also report payments or reimbursements for speaking engagements, conferences, or meetings attended in their legislative capacity when the value exceeds $100. Filing inaccurately can carry penalties under state law.