Del. Rasoul declines to run for lieutenant governor in 2025

Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, has decided not to enter the already crowded field of Democratic candidates for the 2025 lieutenant governor’s race.

“While I gave it a lot of thought over the summer, now being able to focus on Roanoke and on education tends to keep me pretty busy these days,” he said Wednesday.

Instead, Rasoul, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2021, plans to focus on serving his current constituents, rather than run for statewide office. He noted that his seniority within the House of Delegates has given him the opportunity to focus on issues faced by residents of the Roanoke Valley, and the needs of Virginia’s children as chairman of the House of Delegates Education Committee.

“That’s a passion of mine and to be able to do so in a bipartisan way,” he said.

A challenge issued for all statewide candidates

Rasoul declined to comment on whether he’ll endorse anyone in the lieutenant governor’s race and instead issued a challenge to all candidates seeking statewide office: to get to know the South and Southwest regions of the commonwealth and to get to know the needs and opportunities of the area. There is not yet a candidate in the lieutenant governor’s race, or the governor’s race, from the region.

Four Democrats , so far, have announced plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2025: state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield County; Babur Lateef, chair of the Prince William County School Board; state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach; and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. Conservative radio host John Reid of Richmond is reportedly considering a run for the office.

“I want to make sure that candidates are speaking to issues equitably across the commonwealth. That is a core, big-D Democratic principal,” he said. “We believe that the education of a child in Wise County or Roanoke city is just as important as one in Arlington.”

Some of the pain points in the area include the effect of shifting populations from rural to urban areas on education funding, transportation safety issues, homelessness in Roanoke and poverty in the region.

Rasoul is the only Democratic state lawmaker west of Charlottesville — a reliably Republican part of the commonwealth.

In addition to chairing the House of Delegates Education Committee, he serves on the Public Safety and Appropriations committees; chairs the Appropriations – Elementary and Secondary Subcommittee; and sits on the appropriations subcommittees for Health and Human Resources and the General Government and Capital Outlay subcommittees.

Rasoul’s previous run for lieutenant governor and the 2025 election landscape, so far

Rasoul, who was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2014, ran for lieutenant governor in 2021. He came in second in the seven-way Democratic primary, which was won by former Del. Hala Ayala, who represented a northern Virginia House of Delegates district. Ayala lost to Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears that year, in the same election that saw Gov. Glenn Youngkin defeat former Gov. Terry McCauliffe and Attorney General Jason Miyares unseat the incumbent Mark Herring.

Along with the candidates for lieutenant governor, Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, and Earle-Sears have announced their plan to run for governor in 2025. Miyares has been rumored to run as well, which would set up a Republican primary for the nomination.

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