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Bagby to lead Va. Legislative Black Caucus

Jeremy M. Lazarus | 12/29/2017, 12:35 p.m.
Henrico Delegate Lamont Bagby will lead the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus in the 2018 General Assembly session.

Henrico Delegate Lamont Bagby will lead the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus in the 2018 General Assembly session.

Delegate Bagby, a Democrat, represents the 74th House District that also includes Charles City County and a small part of Richmond.

He was elected chairman last week at a pre-session meeting of the 20-member caucus, the largest number ever for the all-Democratic group whose mission is to improve conditions for African-Americans and other underrepresented groups in the state.

Other officers include Richmond state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan, vice chair; Delegate Marcia S. Price of Newport News, secretary, succeeding Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn; and Delegate Matthew James of Portsmouth, re-elected as treasurer.

Delegate Bagby succeeds Delegate Roslyn C. Tyler of Sussex County, who held the post for the past year. She moved up from vice chair after state Sen. Mamie E. Locke of Hampton resigned from the caucus post following her election as chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus in November 2016.

Re-elected in November to his second full House term, Delegate Bagby said he is “humbled and excited” to serve as the caucus’ chair and to continue the work of fighting “for those who have a limited voice.”

A former member of the Henrico School Board, Delegate Bagby works outside the legislature as director of operations for the nonprofit Peter Paul Development Center that serves youths and adults in the Church Hill area of Richmond.

Sen. McClellan served 11 years in the House of Delegates before winning a special election last January to replace now Congressman A. Donald McEachin as the representative for the 9th Senate District.