Arlington’s state delegates aim to use a stronger majority and a new Democratic governor to push through legislation that had previously stalled.
Dels. Patrick Hope (D-1), Adele McClure (D-2) and Alfonso Lopez (D-3) all plan to return to past legislative priorities, resubmitting some bills and advancing new ones.
They’re particularly optimistic about incoming Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), since Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) had often stymied Democratic legislators’ efforts to advance their agenda.
“What you’ll see mostly from myself and my colleagues is bringing back those bills that were vetoed by the governor [in previous sessions],” McClure said at a Nov. 13 work session between County Board members and the legislative delegation.
“We have a very full list going into 2026,” she said.
Hope is also preparing to resubmit past legislation along with new measures. He is one of the more prolific bill patrons in the lower house of the legislature, though perhaps not quite to the level of Lopez.
Lopez and his staff keep an Excel spreadsheet of ideas for legislation in each year’s session. Sometimes, it approaches 300 items, he said.
“We had 217 this year,” Lopez told County Board members. “We’ve already got it down to 77, but we need to cut that in half.”
And those are just the bills in which he has a personal interest.
“Then there also are bills that I’m working on with the new administration, as well as various interest groups,” he said.
Lopez will again chair the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee in 2026, while Hope is expected to chair the Courts of Justice Committee again.
McClure, first elected in 2023, is not yet a committee chair, but like other incumbents who won re-election, she continues to move up in seniority year by year.
Democrats wrestled more than a dozen House of Delegates seats away from Republicans in the Nov. 4 election. Having held 51 seats in the 100-member body for the 2025 session, Democrats will control at least 64 in 2026.
That means more seats for Democrats on individual committees.
“We’ll see what those assignments look like” in coming weeks, McClure said.
In the Nov. 4 election, Hope and McClure easily beat back challenges from Republicans, while Lopez was unopposed.
At the work session with Board members, all three laid out priorities for the coming year:
- Lopez: Pointed to topics including affordable housing, gun control, environmental issues, economic development, workforce/labor protections and cost-of-living measures
- McClure: Will focus on issues including housing affordability, tenants’ rights, transportation funding and child care
- Hope: Plans to address issues ranging from tree canopy to underage vaping to gun violence, in addition to criminal-justice measures coming before his committee
Lawmakers also will address the state’s biennial budget, which will be presented by the outgoing governor next month.
Given the shaky economic conditions in Northern Virginia owing to federal actions, there may be limited opportunities for discretionary spending in the package.
“Things that have a fiscal impact will be a challenge,” Hope predicted. “This is going to be a difficult budget year for Virginia.”
With that caveat, Hope said Democrats in Richmond “want to be as supportive as we can for localities.”
The 2026 General Assembly session convenes Jan. 14 for what is expected to be a 60-day session. On Jan. 17, Spanberger will be inaugurated as the commonwealth’s first female chief executive, and its 75th overall post-colonial-era governor since Patrick Henry in 1776.
Until 1852, Virginia governors were selected by the General Assembly. Since then, they have been elected by popular vote.
