NORFOLK, 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.
There are two candidates running to represent Virginia Senate District 21: the incumbent, Democrat Delegate Angelia Williams Graves, and her challenger, Independent Giovanni "Gio" Dolmo.
Williams Graves previously served on Norfolk City Council from 2010-2021 and started her term in Virginia's House of Delegates District 90 in 2021. Dolmo is a disabled veteran and local preacher. He previously ran as the Republican candidate for Virginia House of Delegates District 89 in 2021.
About Virginia Senate District 21
Senate District 21 includes a majority of the city of Norfolk, from Campostella through downtown to Willoughby Bay and parts of Ocean View.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, 42.9-percent of voters in Senate District 21 are Black and 40.8-percent are white. The district profile states residents living in this district voted for Democrat candidates in a number of races in recent years, including the presidential race, since 2016.
VOTER GUIDE: Virginia's 2023 elections are coming up. Here's a look at races, candidates, voter registration info and more.
What is the one piece of legislation you'd like to see pass first if you were to win the seat?
Williams Graves: "The one piece of legislation that I think I would really like to see passed is a bill that got killed in committee last year, and it was a gun safety bill. I mean, to me, it's just common sense. If you want to purchase a gun, that is a deadly weapon, you shouldn't have to take a gun safety course in order to be able to purchase it, just so you know how to handle it, just so you know how to store it."
Dolmo: "Definitely get a legislation to have more families, more fathers involved in the families, involved with the children. That has to happen to get rid of a lot of issues that are happening in our community. If you want to see the violence go down, if you want to see the graduation rates go up, all of that is connected to the fathers not being home."
How would you like to address gun violence in the city?
Dolmo: "I would definitely file legislation to fix those issues. It's hard to find legislation that will fix those issues. Again, one of the biggest issues for me, is I keep my kids away from the streets. I keep my kids in a structured home, so they understand the difference between getting out there and getting in a situation where someone wants to hurt them. Right? But, if we have more family members that can do that more fathers involved or uncles or grandfathers that can do that with their children, it will bring down the gun violence."
Williams Graves: "One of the things I'm working on is goals of getting funding for some of the smaller nonprofits that are truly boots on the ground doing the work. Those nonprofits may not have the large donor board of directors. They may be operating on a shoe-string budget and a shoe-string staff of volunteers and people who want to make a difference. So, I'm working with a group of small nonprofits, to see how we can work to get them in the state budget so that they can get some additional funding to be able to do the things that they do and to be able to expand capacity."
Flooding mitigation is an on-going challenge in Norfolk. How would you support these efforts?
Williams Graves: "We want to make sure that the state is a good partner with us with regard to the federal grants that the city has obtained that require a non-federal match. But we also want to make sure that Virginia stays in RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. That is critical to us being able to continue to add to that pot of money, so that we can input these flood mitigation measures."
Dolmo: "If I get elected, I'm like, I'm going to make sure it gets done. Like this is not this is not rocket science. You know, make sure that you get the service that we collect that water to get that water out of there. Let's get the engineers to figure it out. Let's pay them what we need to pay them let's make the budget for it. And that's what we do."
What is your stance on Governor Youngkin's 15-week abortion ban proposal?
Dolmo: "I believe that abortion is not going anywhere in Virginia. I'm a man of God, so I'm going to vote however God wants me to vote when it comes to abortion. You got the democratic party and republican party both approve of abortion, right? I'm not sure where the Democrat Party stands on the abortion, the limitations and witness the limit. They haven't really said anything about it. But I know for sure abortion is not going anywhere in the state of Virginia and the governor already said that both parties already agree on that. And all I stand on is whatever God tells me to vote on is what I'm going to vote on."
Williams Graves: "I'd like to see Virginia stay exactly where we are. The laws we have in place are perfect. They've been in place for several decades now. They have worked just fine, women are fine and are comfortable with them. Doctors are comfortable with them. I don't think that we need to ban or further restrict or limit. Whatever it is they want to call it, I don't think we need to move in that direction. If you start down this path of controlling women and their bodies, what else is next?"