ALEXANDRIA, VA (January 22, 2024) — CPAC Foundation’s analysis of Virginia’s legislature highlights the stark contrast between the conservatism of the Republican agenda and the Leftism of the Democrat agenda. As a testament to this fact, the difference in the overall average scores between the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House was greater than 10 percent. The bills that passed through each legislature also reflect powerful ideological divides. Of the 22 bills and resolutions rated in the House, only four were rated as liberal. In the Senate, 16 of the 18 bills rated were liberal.

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“No other state does a better job of showing us the vision that each party has for our country right now than Virginia,” said CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp. “In the GOP-controlled chamber last session, you have secure elections, parental rights in education, and sensible protections for born-alive infants. In the Democrat-controlled chamber, we saw racist DEI initiatives, costly green energy mandates, and widespread government intervention in businesses.”

CPAC recognizes several Virginia state legislators for their conservative voting records. The following members of the Virginia State Legislature earned CPAC’s Award for Conservative Excellence for voting with the conservative position at least 90% of the time during the 2023 session.

Nicholas Freitas (100%)

Phillip Scott (95%)

Michael Webert (95%)

C. Matthew Fariss (95%)

Hyland Fowler (95%)

Amanda Batten (91%)

Robert Bell (91%)

Karen S. Greenhalgh (91%)

Christopher Head (91%)

Marie E. March (91%)

John McGuire (91%)

Joseph McNamara (91%)

C. Todd Gilbert (90%)

Additionally, many lawmakers in the Virginia State Legislature earned CPAC’s Award for Conservative Achievement for voting with the conservative position at least 80% of the time during the 2023 session. Their names are highlighted in gray on the scorecard.

The bills featured in CPAC’s 2023 Ratings of Virginia address Second Amendment rights, government spending, parental rights in education, and national security. These issues, coupled with our mission to protect life, liberty, property and uphold the American family, created the basis by which the CPAC Foundation rated the Virginia legislature.

The Center for Legislative Accountability (CLA), an initiative of the CPAC Foundation, is the premier organization for holding lawmakers accountable. The CLA produces the longest-running conservative congressional scorecard and our state program is the only one in the nation that scores all 8,000 lawmakers in the 50 states across every policy area.