EMILYs List endorses five women for election to the Virginia House of Delegates

For Immediate Release

August 19, 2021

EMILYs List Endorses Five Women for Election to the Virginia House of Delegates

Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed five women for election to the Virginia House of Delegates. Emily Cain, executive director of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“EMILYs List is proud to endorse Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Michelle Maldonado, Jasmine Gore, Kim Melnyk, and Irene Shin for the Virginia House of Delegates. Holding and growing the Democratic majority is critical to continue moving Virginia forward. When we elect these five Democratic pro-choice women to the House of Delegates, they will work tirelessly on urgent issues including COVID-19 relief, reproductive rights, gun safety, and criminal justice reform. Continuing to elect Democratic pro-choice women to represent them in the state legislature is the best thing Virginians can do for their families, futures, and communities.”

EMILYs List endorsed the following slate of candidates for election:

Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (HD-45)

Michelle Maldonado (HD-50)

Jasmine Gore (HD-62)

Kim Melnyk (HD-84)

Irene Shin (HD-86)

These endorsements are in addition to the 27 women leaders EMILYs List has already endorsed for election to the Virginia House of Delegates: 

Candi King (HD-02)

Wendy Gooditis (HD-10) 

Danica Roem (HD-13)

Kelly Convirs-Fowler (HD-21)

Debra Gardner (HD-27)

Elizabeth Guzmán (HD-31)

Kathleen Murphy (HD-34)

Kaye Kory (HD-38)

Vivian Watts (HD-39)

Eileen Filler-Corn (HD-41)

Kathy Tran (HD-42)

Charniele Herring (HD-46)

Briana Sewell (HD-51)

Sally Hudson (HD-57)

Lashrecse Aird (HD-63)

Katie Sponsler (HD-66)

Karrie Delaney (HD-67)

Dawn Adams (HD-68)

Betsy Carr (HD-69)

Delores McQuinn (HD-70)

Nancy Guy (HD-83)

Angelia Williams Graves (HD-90)

Martha Mugler (HD-91)

Jeion Ward (HD-92)

Shelly Simonds (HD-94)

Cia Price (HD-95)

Finale Norton (HD-100)

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 158 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.