Virginia House of Delegates

The House of Burgesses was the first elected legislative body in the New World.{{cite web|title=This Day in History|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-legislative-assembly-in-america|access-date=March 23, 2016}} Originally having 22 members, the House of Burgesses met from 1619 through 1632 in the choir of the church at Jamestown.{{cite web|last=Commonwealth of Virginia|title=Capitol Square Timeline|url=http://legis.virginia.gov/1_vis_guide/cap_timeline.html|access-date=April 26, 2011|archive-date=June 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613004503/http://legis.virginia.gov/1_vis_guide/cap_timeline.html|url-status=dead}} From 1632 to 1699 the legislative body met at four different state houses in Jamestown. The first state house convened at the home of Colonial Governor Sir John Harvey from 1632 to 1656. The burgesses convened at the second state house from 1656 until it was destroyed in 1660. Historians have yet to precisely identify its location.{{cite web|last=Commonwealth of Virginia|title=Timeline|url=http://legis.virginia.gov/1_vis_guide/cap_timeline.html#16191632|access-date=April 26, 2011|archive-date=June 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613004503/http://legis.virginia.gov/1_vis_guide/cap_timeline.html#16191632|url-status=dead}}

The House of Burgesses had its final meeting in May 1776, and the House of Delegates took its place in October of that year.

The House has met in the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson, since 1788. The legislative body met from 1788 to 1904 in what is known as today the Old Hall of the House of Delegates or commonly referred to as the Old House Chamber. The Old House Chamber is part of the original Capitol building structure. It measures 76 feet in width and is filled today with furnishings that resemble what the room would have looked like during its time of use. There are many bronze and marble busts of historic Virginians on display in the Old House Chamber, including: George Mason, George Wythe, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and Meriwether Lewis. From 1904 to 1906, University of Virginia graduate and architect John K. Peeples designed and built compatible classical wings to the west and east side of the Capitol building. The new wings added to provide more space and serve as the legislative chambers in the Virginia General Assembly, the Senate of Virginia resides in the west chamber and the House of Delegates resides in the east chamber. The General Assembly members and staff operate from offices in the General Assembly Building, located in Capitol Square. Prior to 1788 the House of Delegates met in the Colonial Capital of Williamsburg.

In 1999, Republicans took control of the House of Delegates for the first time since Reconstruction (with the exception of a brief 2-year period in which the Readjuster Party was in the majority in the 1880s). The Republican Party held the majority until 2019, when the Democratic Party won a majority of the seats, thus regaining control of the House of Delegates. The majority was sworn in on January 8, 2020, after which Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) was elected as the first female and Jewish Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.{{cite news |author= |title=Newly-Empowered Virginia Democrats Promise Action |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_newly-empowered-virginia-democrats-promise-action/6182299.html |work=Voice of America |agency=Associated Press |date=January 8, 2020 |access-date=September 6, 2020}}

On November 4, 2020, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment that removed the authority to redistrict congressional and state legislative districts from the General Assembly, and gave that power to a newly-established 16-member panel composed of eight lawmakers and eight non-lawmaker citizens. The maps created by this commission are subject to the approval of the General Assembly, but lawmakers cannot change the commission's lines.{{Cite web|title=Proposed Amendments for 2020 - Virginia Department of Elections|url=https://www.elections.virginia.gov/proposed-constitutional-amendment-2020/|access-date=2021-02-23|website=www.elections.virginia.gov}}

On November 7, 2023, the Democrats regained control of the House of Delegates after securing a 51-seat majority.{{cite news|url=https://wtop.com/local-politics-elections-news/2023/11/tallying-is-underway-which-party-will-take-hold-of-virginias-general-assembly/|title=Democrats sweep Virginia elections to take control of General Assembly|first=Jessica|last=Kronzer|publisher=WTOP|date=November 7, 2023|accessdate=November 8, 2023}}

The annual salary for delegates is $17,640.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailypress.com/topic/politics/virginia-house-of-delegates-ORGOV0000123.topic|title=Virginia House of Delegates|publisher=DailyPress.com|access-date=September 11, 2008|archive-date=February 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222001913/http://www.dailypress.com/topic/politics/virginia-house-of-delegates-ORGOV0000123.topic|url-status=dead}} Each delegate represents roughly 84,702 people. Candidates for office must be at least 21 years of age at the time of the election, residents of the districts they seek to represent, and qualified to vote for General Assembly legislators.{{cite web|url=http://www.vakids.org/pubs/virginia_state_legislature_faq.pdf |title=Virginia State Legislature |publisher=VAKids.org |access-date=September 11, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517174906/http://www.vakids.org/pubs/virginia_state_legislature_faq.pdf |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }}{{cite web | title = Constitution of Virginia, Article IV, Section 4. Qualifications of senators and delegates. | publisher = Commonwealth of Virginia | url = https://law.lis.virginia.gov/constitution/article4/section4/ |access-date = November 7, 2017}} The regular session of the General Assembly is 60 days long during even numbered years and 30 days long during odd numbered years, unless extended by a two-thirds vote of both houses.{{cite web | title = Constitution of Virginia, Article IV, Section 6. Legislative sessions. | publisher = Virginia General Assembly | url = http://legis.state.va.us/Laws/search/Constitution.htm#4S6 | access-date = October 22, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081218210922/http://legis.state.va.us/Laws/search/Constitution.htm#4S6 | archive-date = December 18, 2008 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}

Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution of Virginia stipulates that the House of Delegates shall consist of between 90 and 100 members. It does not put any condition on the number of districts and only speaks of "several house districts". While there used to be multi-member districts, since 1982, there have been 100 districts electing one member each.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the House of Burgesses, the House Clerk's Office announced a new [https://history.house.virginia.gov Database of House Members] called "DOME" that chronicles the "9,700-plus men and women who served as burgesses or delegates in the Virginia General Assembly over the past four centuries."{{cite news |title=Virginia House unveils new searchable website of its members |url=http://villagenewsonline.com/2019/01/08/virginia-house-unveils-new-searchable-website-of-its-members/ |access-date=25 January 2019 |agency=Village News |date=2019-01-08}}{{cite news |title=Virginia House of Delegates unveils searchable website |url=https://www.henricocitizen.com/articles/virginia-house-of-delegates-unveils-searchable-website/ |access-date=25 January 2019 |agency=Henrico Citizen}}{{cite news |last1=Hankerson |first1=Mechelle |title=New database holds 400 years worth of information on members of Virginia's legislature |url=https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/new-database-holds-400-years-worth-of-information-on-members-of-virginias-legislature/ |access-date=25 January 2019 |agency=Virginia MErcury |date=2019-01-03}}

• List of Virginia state legislatures
• Mace of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Political party strength in Virginia
• Redistricting in Virginia
• Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017
• :Category:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates

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• [http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/ Virginia General Assembly Official website]
• [http://www.vote-smart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=VA&criteria=lower Project Vote Smart – State House of Virginia]

{{Virginia House of Delegates}}

{{Virginia legislative districts}}

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House of Delegates

Category:State lower houses in the United States