RICHMOND, Va. — Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) has officially been sworn in as Speaker of the House during the first 2024 meeting of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Scott is the first Black person to serve in the role in Virginia's history. He was unanimously elected speaker-designee by the House Democratic Caucus.
After swearing on the Bible to support the constitution of the United States and the Commonwealth and diligently perform his duties, the House of Delegates erupted in applause, followed by Scott saying, "My first immediate emotion is just gratitude..." He continued by thanking his wife, his daughter, and his mother for helping him get to his position.
He then talked about the history of what led to his swearing-in, 405 years after the formation of the first General Assembly and "coincidentally, 405 years after the first enslaved people arrived here, not far from where we stand down the road in Hampton Roads, so I know I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me."
"I felt the energy of the ancestors," said Scott in a previous interview with 13News Now. "The prayers, the hopes, the disappointments, the dreams."
But Scott said he doesn't want to be known as just the first Black Speaker, but as "a good Speaker who happens to be Black."
“I’m going to be the Speaker of the House. Not the Speaker of the Democrats. Not the Speaker of the Republicans, but the Speaker of the House, and it’s the people’s House,” Scott said.
Virginia will see how Scott will lead the House in such a slim majority 51 out of 100 seats in the House of Delegates. Scott previously pledged that Democrats would spend the next two years of Youngkin's term advancing progressive priorities to his desk, even though they might face the threat of a veto.