162nd Virginia General Assembly

The 162nd Virginia General Assembly, consisting of members who were elected in both the House election in 2021 and the Senate election in 2019, convened on January 12, 2022. The legislature is the first since the 156th Assembly ended in 2012 to be of divided party control, with Republicans again controlling the House of Delegates and Democrats holding the Senate.^[1]

162nd Virginia General Assembly
← 161st 163rd →
Overview
Term	January 12, 2022 – January 10, 2024
Senate of Virginia
Members	40
President of the Senate	Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R)
Senate Majority Leader	Dick Saslaw (D)
Senate Minority Leader	Tommy Norment (R)
Party control	Democratic (22)   Republican (18)
Virginia House of Delegates
Members	100
Speaker of the House	Todd Gilbert (R)
House Majority Leader	Terry Kilgore (R)
House Minority Leader	Don Scott (D)
Party control	Republican (51)   Democratic (45)

Membership

Main article: 2021 Virginia House of Delegates election

On November 14, 2021, the incoming Republican majority in the House unanimously nominated Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) for Speaker of the House of Delegates and Delegate Terry Kilgore (R-Scott County) for Majority Leader. Both confirmations by the full body are pending as of 23:03, Monday, July 21, 2025 (UTC).^[2]

For the third consecutive time since the beginning of the 160th Assembly in 2018, a record number of women are serving in the legislature: 34 in the House and 11 in the Senate, with the House having seen an increase of four women from the 161st Assembly.

Leadership

Senate

• Senate Majority Leader: Dick Saslaw (D)
• Senate Minority Leader: Tommy Norment (R)
• Senate Majority Caucus Chair: Mamie Locke (D)
• Senate President pro-tempore: L. Louise Lucas (D)
• Senate Majority Caucus Vice Chair: Scott Surovell (D)
• Senate Majority Caucus Vice Chair for Policy: Jeremy McPike (D)
• Senate Majority Caucus Secretary: Jennifer McClellan (D)
• Senate Majority Caucus Treasurer: Ghazala Hashmi (D)
• Senate Majority Whips: Barbara Favola (D) and Lionell Spruill (D)
• Senate Majority Sergeant at Arms: Jennifer Boysko (D)
• Clerk: Susan Clarke Schaar

Committee chairs and ranking members

The Senate of Virginia has 10 Standing Committees and a Committee on Rules.

Committee	Chair	Ranking Minority Member
Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources	Chap Petersen	Emmett Hanger
Commerce and Labor	Dick Saslaw	Tommy Norment
Judiciary	John S. Edwards	Tommy Norment
Education and Health	Louise Lucas	Stephen Newman
Finance and Appropriations	Janet Howell	Tommy Norment
General Laws and Technology	George Barker	Frank Ruff
Local Government	Lynwood Lewis	Emmett Hanger
Privileges and Elections	Creigh Deeds	Jill Vogel
Rehabilitation and Social Services	Barbara Favola	Emmett Hanger
Rules	Mamie Locke	Tommy Norment
Transportation	Dave Marsden	Stephen Newman

House of Delegates

• Speaker: Todd Gilbert (R)
• House Majority Leader: Terry Kilgore (R)
• House Majority Caucus Chair: Kathy Byron (R)
• House Majority Whip: Jay Leftwich (R)
• House Minority Leader: vacant
• House Minority Caucus Chair: Charniele Herring
• House Minority Treasurer: Betsy Carr
• House Minority Whip: Alfonso Lopez
• House Minority Secretary: Marcus Simon
• House Minority Vice Chair for Operations: Jeion Ward
• House Minority Vice Chair for Outreach: vacant
• House Minority Sergeant at Arms: Elizabeth Guzman
• Clerk: G. Paul Nardo