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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: L. LOUISE LUCAS
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE; CHAIR, SENATE FINANCE AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE, SENATE OF VIRGINIA, PORTSMOUTH
Virginia Business //September 1, 2025//
Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: L. LOUISE LUCAS
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE; CHAIR, SENATE FINANCE AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE, SENATE OF VIRGINIA, PORTSMOUTH
Virginia Business //September 1, 2025//
Since Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s election, Lucas has become the face of Virginia Democrats’ “blue brick wall” strategy to block Republican priorities in Richmond. Key to her public image is the state senator’s brash and outspoken presence on X, where she has more than 82,000 followers.
She was instrumental in blocking Youngkin’s $2 billion arena plan for Alexandria in 2024, which Lucas nicknamed the “Glenn Dome.” As chair of the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, in 2025 Lucas felled other Youngkin proposals, including private school vouchers and a Virginia Gaming Commission amendment.
In July, Lucas was one of nine Senate Democrats who sued to prevent three universities from seating eight rejected Youngkin appointees to their boards. Her side won, although the attorney general’s office is appealing the decision.
The first female shipfitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and a businesswoman whose ventures include a cannabis store, Lucas came to the Senate from Portsmouth City Council in 1992. When Democrats retook control of the General Assembly in 2020, she became president pro tempore.
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