Virginia Shore Sen. Lynwood Lewis will not seek re-election

Eastern Shore Democratic Sen. Lynwood Lewis has announced he will not seek re-election this year, ending nearly 20 years in the Virginia General Assembly.

Lewis was elected to the Senate District 6 seat in 2014 to serve out the remaining term of then-Sen. Ralph Northam after his election as governor.

Lewis is one of two state legislators to announce this week they were stepping down after their current terms end. Democratic Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn and Lewis are joining the flurry of lawmakers retiring rather than seeking re-election this year under newly redrawn electoral maps.

"After much thought and consideration, I have decided not to seek re-election in the newly drawn Senate District 20. I did not come to this decision easily, but believe it is the right one for my family and for me at this time," Lewis said in a letter posted on Facebook.

Lewis entered the General Assembly in 2004 after being elected to fill the 100th District seat vacated by longtime Delegate Bob Bloxom. After serving as a state delegate for 10 years, Lewis won the senate seat held by Northam in 2014, defeating Republican Wayne Coleman by just 9 votes.

"It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in the General Assembly, first as a Delegate and, for the past decade as the Senator from Accomack," Lewis said in his letter.

“I have had the unique opportunity to represent vastly different areas of our Commonwealth at the same time — from Mathews County on the Middle Peninsula to the City of Norfolk in Hampton Roads to the Eastern Shore, the very special place I have been lucky enough to call home for my entire life.

"I am most grateful for this, for during a time of increasing polarization and rising distrust of each other, our governments and those who do not think or look like us, I have borne witness to the reality that we are all more alike than we are different.

"Whether you happen to be a nurse in downtown Norfolk or a schoolteacher in Oceanview, a waterman in Mathews or a restaurant owner in Cape Charles, a small farmer in Accomack, or like me, a small-town lawyer from Parksley, all these years listening and learning from people so different from each other has shown me that there is so much value in perspectives unlike your own.

"In all my years of service, I always sought common ground even in times of turmoil, and I believe the opportunity to serve such a diverse District made me a better legislator and a better person.

"While I will not be seeking re-election, I look forward to continuing to serve out my term as your Senator for the current 6th District and am hopeful that, in the future, there may be other opportunities for me to serve my community and the Commonwealth."

Filler-Corn of Fairfax County, who joined the House of Delegates in 2010 and served as speaker in 2020 and 2021,  was the first woman and first Jewish person to hold the speakership. She said in an interview she is considering a run for governor in 2025.

"I have been thinking of and talking publicly about exploring for governor and realizing that's what I need to focus on," she said.

Filler-Corn and Lewis are joining a General Assembly exodus that could still grow. Both would have faced other incumbents had they chosen to run. The district where Filler-Corn lives now includes another Democratic delegate, one of many incumbent pairings created by new district boundaries all General Assembly candidates will run under this year.

Lewis was pitted against GOP Sen. Bill DeSteph in a new Republican-leaning district.

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All 140 seats are on the ballot this year and candidates will run for the first time under maps that were overhauled during the redistricting process ended in late 2021.

The maps were drawn without regard to protecting incumbents, resulting in multiple sitting legislators being forced to run against each other, move or step aside.

Republicans flipped control of the House in 2021 in a wave of GOP electoral wins, and months later Filler-Corn was ousted by her peers as minority leader.

Among the lawmakers who previously announced retirement plans are: Senate Democratic leader Dick Saslaw; Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment; Janet Howell, the Democratic co-chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriation committee; Sen. John Bell, who recently disclosed he is battling cancer; and four House GOP committee chairs.

Associated Press contributed to this report

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Virginia Shore Sen. Lynwood Lewis will not seek re-election