Rosalyn Dance

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Rosalyn Dance
Local communities speak out against force reductions at Fort Lee (4).jpg
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the 16th district
In office
November 9, 2014 January 8, 2020
Residence Petersburg, Virginia
Alma mater John Tyler Community College
Virginia State University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Profession Nurse
CommitteesAppropriations; General Laws; Privileges and Elections
Website Dance for Senate

Rosalyn Randolph Dance (born February 10, 1948) is an American politician, who served in the Senate of Virginia from 2014 until 2020. She was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2005 to 2014, was mayor of Petersburg, Virginia from 1992 to 2004, and is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Virginia Department of Elections. Dance is a member of the Democratic Party. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Dance was one of 11 children. [3] She dropped out of high school, but went on to earn several higher degrees. [3]

Electoral history

Dance was elected to the Petersburg City Council in 1992. [3]

In 2001, the 63rd Virginia House of Delegates district incumbent, Democrat Jay DeBoer, retired after 18 years. Dance, then mayor of Petersburg, ran for the seat as an independent but lost to the Democratic nominee, funeral director Fenton Bland.

On January 25, 2005, Bland pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; he resigned the 63rd district seat the next day. Dance received the Democratic nomination and was chosen to replace Bland in a special election on March 22. [4] The 63rd district is southeast of Richmond, made up of the city of Petersburg and part of Hopewell, plus parts of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George Counties. Dance was reelected multiple times, the last in November 2013.

Dance served on the House committees on Appropriations, General Laws, Health, Welfare and Institutions, and Privileges and Elections. [1]

Dance served in the Senate of Virginia, where she represented District 16, having won a special election on November 4, 2014, to fill the seat once held by Henry L. Marsh. [1]

In 2019, Dance sponsored a bill to gradually increase Virginia's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 per hour by 2021. [5] Later that year, she ran for reelection to her state senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by disbarred attorney Joe Morrissey. [6] [7]

DateElectionCandidatePartyVotes%
Virginia House of Delegates, 63rd district
November 6, 2001 [8] GeneralFenton Bland Democratic 8,77452.48
Rosalyn DanceIndependent7,92647.40
Write Ins200.12
March 22, 2005 [9] Special Rosalyn DanceDemocratic4,34268.78
A G Sims Republican 1,69026.77
M W BratschiIndependent2714.29
Write Ins100.16
Fenton Bland resigned; seat stayed Democratic
November 8, 2005 [10] GeneralRosalyn DanceDemocratic9,45660.29
D H DphrepaulezzIndependent6,17739.38
Write Ins520.33
November 6, 2007 [11] GeneralRosalyn DanceDemocratic8,68498.07
Write Ins1701.92
November 3, 2009 [12] GeneralRosalyn DanceDemocratic12,37596.42
Write Ins4593.57
November 8, 2011 [13] GeneralRosalyn DanceDemocratic10,77596.64
Write Ins3743.35
June 11, 2013 [14] Democratic primaryRosalyn Dance2,47152.82
Evandra D. Thompson2,20747.18
November 5, 2013 [15] GeneralRosalyn DanceDemocratic15,96295.72
Write Ins7144.28
Senate of Virginia, 16th district
August 9, 2014 [16] Special primaryRosalyn Dance1,72545.4
Delores McQuinn 1,37536.2
Rudy McCollum 59215.6
Gerry Rawlinson1082.8
November 4, 2014 [17] Special generalRosalyn DanceDemocratic29,23773.0
Preston "Famous" BrownIndependent10,15425.4
Write Ins6451.6
Henry L. Marsh resigned; seat stayed Democratic
June 9, 2015 [18] Democratic PrimaryRosalyn Dance4,96762.0
Joseph E. Preston 3,03937.9
Write Ins20.0
November 3, 2015 [19] General electionRosalyn DanceDemocratic17,33172.7
Joe Morrissey Independent6,09025.5
Write Ins4281.8
June 11, 2019 [20] Democratic primary Joe Morrissey 8,74155.0
Rosalyn Dance6,87344.0
Write Ins60.0

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rosalyn R. Dance". Senate of Virginia. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. "Meet Delegate Dance". Delegate Rosalyn R. Dance - Virginia's 63rd District. Retrieved June 14, 2013. (campaign/constituent website)
  3. 1 2 3 "Fresh off tough primary win, Dance sees chance to rise". Richmond Times-Dispatch. August 2, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  4. Lewis, Bob (April 29, 2005). "Former Va. Delegate Sentenced to Federal Prison". Associated Press. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  5. "In surprise, Senate panel advances bill to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2021". Roanoke Times. January 14, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  6. Gregory Schneider, Jenna Portnoy, and Laura Vozzella (June 11, 2019). "After scandal and stint in jail, Joe Morrissey wins Virginia state Senate primary". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 11, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Mel Leonor and Michael Martz (June 11, 2019). "Joe Morrissey knocks off Sen. Rosalyn Dance in Democratic primary" . Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  8. "General Election- November 6, 2001". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 29, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  9. "Special Election- March 22, 2005". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  10. "General Election- November 8, 2005". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  11. "November 6, 2007 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  12. "November 2009 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  13. "November 2011 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  14. "Unofficial Results - Primary Election - June 11, 2013". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  15. "November 2013 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections.
  16. "Del. Rosalyn R. Dance wins Senate primary". NBC 12. August 10, 2014.
  17. "November 2014 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  18. "June 2015 Democratic Primary Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  19. "November 2015 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  20. "June 2019 Democratic Primary Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 5, 2023.