VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia's 2023 general election happens on November 7, and all 140 seats in the state's General Assembly are up for grabs. This is also Virginia’s first election since legislative district maps were redrawn using 2020 census data.
In the state Senate's 20th District, incumbent Bill DeSteph, a Republican, faces challenger Victoria Luevanos, a Democrat.
The 20th Senate District is made up of a portion of Norfolk, all of Northampton and Accomack counties on the Eastern Shore, and the northern tip of Virginia Beach.
But the vast majority of voters, 67.89 %, come from Virginia Beach, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
VPAP says the district "Leans Republican" with voters who live there having voted for Glenn Youngkin for governor in 2021.
VOTER GUIDE: Virginia's 2023 elections are coming up. Here's a look at races, candidates, voter registration info and more.
DeSteph, 58, is a businessman and veteran who has served in the Senate since 2016. Before that, he served in the House of Delegates from 2014 to 2016, and, before that, he was a member of the Virginia Beach City Council for eight and half years.
He says his top concerns going into the November election are the cost of gas, inflation, interest rates, crime and the economy.
"We need common sense individuals who are going to go up there, ignore the extreme right, ignore the extreme left," he said. "We need people who can look at the middle and say, here's where we're going to put the guardrails on these issues."
Luevanos, 32, is a mother and Navy veteran seeking her first elected public office. She says she just wants to help people.
"Like me and my friends, we're like, we just wish that like our representatives understood or knew what it was like to like be on social security, or I wish they knew what it's like to try to qualify for food stamps," she said.
Luevanos continued: "I just really care. I want everyone, regardless of where we started in life, that we all end in a happy, healthy way. And regardless of how we came up, I want to make sure everybody has the same opportunities."
The Senate's 20th District is new. It was re-drawn during redistricting and now includes portions of the old 6th, 7th and 8th districts. You can look up what district you're in on the Virginia of Department of Elections website.