Delegate Don Scott was sworn in on Jan. 10, 2024, after Democrats took control of the House of Delegates in November. This is a historic moment as he is the first African American to serve as Virginia’s speaker of the House. Scott, a Democrat, former United States Naval Officer from Portsmouth, Virginia, was first elected to the chamber in 2019 and unanimously chosen by his party for the speakership in November. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Scott served as an officer in the United States Navy before earning his law degree from Louisiana State University.
His path to the chamber is unique as he spent nearly eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty in a drug conspiracy case. After being released from prison, Scott went on to finish his law degree and open a law practice before being elected to the Virginia legislature. Now, as the speaker of the House, Scott faces the challenge of maneuvering his slim majority in the House amid divided government.
The divided government in Virginia, like most purple states in the U.S. has had some challenges for a while. The march on Charlottesville in 2017 by khaki wearing white nationalists, epitomized the ideological tug of war between conservatives and liberals in the state as the debate about the presence and prevalence of Civil War monuments raged. The state has been a battleground state for national elections and has had historic firsts recently with Jennifer McClellan being sworn in as Virginia’s first Black woman member of Congress last spring. But we all know that Douglas Wilder as the first Black governor in the U.S. in the state of VA started it all off.
Delegate Scott said, “Don’t let your past predict your future” and he has proven that this edict is attainable.
