As the state’s flagship school, the University has historically been the alma mater of a significant number of Richmond’s politicians, including statewide officeholders and large fractions of members of the General Assembly.
But following the Nov. 4 elections, several alumni serving in the House lost re-election, bringing the University’s representation in the chamber to more than a one-hundred-year low. In Virginia’s statewide elections, alumni fared much better, with the decisive victories of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones.
Four University alumni — Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, Del. Mark Earley, R-Chesterfield, Del. David Owen, R-Goochland and Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery — were defeated in their bids for re-election. And just one incoming member is representing the University — Class of 1988 alumnus Del.-elect Mark Downey, D-York. This will bring the University’s representation in the House down to six, the lowest since the 1916 legislative session, when just three delegates were recorded by the House History website as having attended the University.
This downward trend has proven to be consistent in recent decades. In 1975, the former University attendees and alumni in the House numbered over 30. By 1995, it numbered just over 20. In 2015, the House was composed of 15 alumni, and by 2022, the number in the chamber reached single digits. Roughly one-fourth of state senators elected in 1975 had attended the University, a number which has since declined to one — Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax.
Surovell said he believes that the Nov. 4 elections were a positive step forward for the University and its students, especially on the issues of college affordability and University autonomy. Despite this, however, he said that the long-term declines in the University’s representation in government are important for legislating.
”The [University] is sort of disconnected from the state [government] in … ways that it [didn’t] used to be,” Surovell said. “[I’ve] been kind of scratching my head as to why so few U.Va graduates have chosen to go into serving their community in elected office … When there’s fewer U.Va. alumni there to advocate with you, it definitely makes it harder to get things done.”
Of the six alumni serving as delegates who will remain, three attended the University for undergraduate education, and three attended for graduate programs — one at the Darden School of Business and two at the School of Law. This is an overrepresentation for both schools, which have a significantly smaller enrollment than the University’s undergraduate population.
Several factors could have accounted for the decline in the University’s legislative representation, including increasingly low acceptance rates and its requirement to maintain a two-thirds majority of in-state students at a time where legislators were increasingly born and raised outside of the Commonwealth.
2020 marked the first time that a majority of both delegates and senators were born outside of Virginia, a number that also steadily increased in years prior. This is representative of the Commonwealth’s changing population, which the 2018 U.S. Census Bureau estimates was composed of 50.5 percent of non-Virginia born Virginians.
Surovell said that the School of Law — as a privatized institution — having an exemption from the state policy requiring two-thirds of students to be in-state, could explain its relatively high proportion of representation in Richmond.
Del. Katrina Callsen, D-Charlottesville and one of the alumni re-elected Nov. 4, pointed out that a growing number of students at the University could also be pursuing opportunities out of state post-graduation. Either way, Callsen said she hopes these low numbers will encourage more Cavaliers to run for office in the future.
“I’m going to frame this as an opportunity and say, whoever’s reading this article needs to run … there’s a ton of local seats that need talented folks,” Callsen said. “So I leave it as an invitation for more people to come get involved and bring their voices.”
Downey said that he ran for the House of Delegates because there were no doctors in the chamber, and felt this needed to change. He, like Callsen and Surovell, encouraged fellow alumni who were disappointed by the school’s legislative representation in Richmond to run.
“We can’t complain about what’s coming out of Richmond if we’re not in there, setting policy … I would say the same to all the U.Va alumni out there,” Downey said. “If you’re really wanting to make sure that U.Va is protected … [running] is one way to do it … don’t be reactive, be proactive.”
When asked what being an alumna has enabled her to bring to the role, Callsen indicated that she has drawn on her experiences and connections at the University in order to more effectively represent her constituents in the House.
“U.Va has been such a fabulous ongoing source of support for me,” Callsen said. “My former professors help me with legislation now in Richmond … I’ve worked with Professor Andy Block and his legislative clinic … I have called professors around criminal defense law, so it’s just an ongoing source of support [and] a community that I get to bring with me.”
Despite the University’s waning representation in the House and Senate, however, it was overrepresented in the number of alumni elected to statewide executive office Nov. 4.
Spanberger’s resounding victory marked the first time in over two decades that a Cavalier was elected to lead the state as governor. Spanberger, a class of 2001 alumna, was the first alum to be elected since former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who served from 1998 to 2002. Spanberger will also be the first Democratic governor to have attended the University since former Gov. Gerald Baliles, in office from 1986 to 1990.
In a Sept. 16 visit to the University, Spanberger talked about making changes to higher education governance given the University’s importance to the Commonwealth.
“I find it really egregious on multiple levels because it isn’t just U.Va. — the University — that’s impacted,” Spanberger said in the event. “It’s U.Va. — the driver of so much of Virginia's economy.”
Another University alumnus, Attorney General-elect Jay Jones, defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in a surprisingly strong victory. Jones graduated from the School of Law in 2015 and spoke of his time there during the race, recounting at a debate in October that he attended when former University President Jim Ryan was a professor and tying that to the issue of the University’s autonomy.
“The attorney general’s office is supposed to advise and support and protect our public institutions here,” Jones said in the debate. “We have not gotten that from [Miyares] because [President] Donald Trump and his cronies in Washington want to make an example of us.”
Unlike the governor, a number of University graduates were elected to the post of attorney general in recent years. Former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, in office from 2010 to 2014 was a class of 1991 alumnus. Former Attorney General Mark Herring, in office from 2014 to 2022, received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University in 1986 and a Master’s Degree in 1989.
With Herring’s loss to Miyares in 2021, it marked the first time since 2005 that none of the three elected statewide officeholders were alumni of the University. Not only was this reversed on Election Day, but the election marked the first since 1993 that two of the winning candidates, the governor-elect and attorney general-elect, were both University alumni.
Callsen and Downey both shared how their experiences at the school shaped their views on the issue of protecting public institutions. Callsen indicated that her experience of attending the University is a strong motivating factor in her efforts to defend it at a time where its autonomy is a point of contention.
”I think I bring a passion, because [University autonomy] is more than just an issue on paper.” Callsen said. “[U.Va] is where I went to school, it’s where I spent time learning and growing.”
Similarly, Downey indicated that his connection to the University is one of the motivating factors in his support for public education more broadly, from K-12 to institutions like the University, Virginia Tech and JMU.
”[U.Va] provided great opportunity for me, initially as a chemical engineer, and opened up lots of doors,” Downey said. “And you know, I think that’s what we need to protect in Virginia … all of our public institutions.”
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