As we’ve seen, in the Virginia House of Delegates, Republicans maintained 12-10 majorities on all committees (other than Rules, where they stacked it 11-6; and 10-8 on Courts of Justice) despite having only a super-slim, 51-49 overall majority. They also made sure to put senior members on key committees while putting freshman Dems on less powerful ones. So that’s the House of Delegates; what about the State Senate, where Republicans also have a narrow majority (21-19)? Let’s check it out.
*The crucial Senate Rules Committee is stacked with Republicans (12-3!) — McDougle (Chairman), Norment, Hanger, Newman, Ruff, Wagner, Obenshain, Vogel, Stuart, Stanley, Carrico, Reeves, Saslaw, Locke, Howell
*The powerful Senate Commerce and Labor is also stacked with Republicans (11-4) Wagner (Chairman), Saslaw, Norment, Newman, Obenshain, Stuart, Stanley, Cosgrove, Chafin, Dance, Lucas, McDougle, Black, Sturtevant, Spruill
*Senate Finance is stacked with Republicans (11-5) as well — Norment (Co-Chair), Hanger (Co-Chair), Howell, Saslaw, Lucas, Newman, Ruff, Wagner, McDougle, Vogel, Carrico, Obenshain, Barker, Dunnavant, Stuart, Dance
*Senate Courts of Justice is 9-6 Republicans — Obenshain (Chairman), Saslaw, Norment, Howell, Lucas, Edwards, McDougle, Stuart, Stanley, Reeves, Chafin, Deeds, Sturtevant, Petersen, Peake
*Senate Privileges and Elections is 8-6 Republicans — Vogel (Chairman), Howell, Deeds, Edwards, Reeves, Ebbin, Chafin, DeSteph, Chase, Ruff, Cosgrove, Dance, Spruill, Peake
Also note that on the most powerful committees, the top four listed above, there are two names that keep appearing – Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment and Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw, aka “Tweedle Dee” and “Tweedle Dum,” aka “two peas in [Dominion’s] pod.” LOL – funny how that works!
