Virginia elects first Black speaker of the state House

The Virginia House of Delegates on Wednesday swore in the chamber's first Black speaker in its 405-year history that included serving as the capital of the Confederacy, Delegate Don Scott, whose personal story includes an arrest for drugs, a federal prison sentence and a rise through the ranks of a company to ultimately return to practicing law.

Scott, who represents a district that includes Portsmouth, had previously served as the minority leader before Democrats took control of the chamber in last year's election.

Scott's path to the position was an unusual one. After graduating from LSU Law School and serving in the Navy, he was convicted of federal drug charges and served seven years in prison. Scott has said he believes his sentence was disproportionate to his crime.

After prison, he moved to Virginia and rose up the ranks of corporate America before taking the bar exam. His experience inspired him to help reform prison systems and he worked as a criminal defense attorney. He said in an interview with The Virginian-Pilot in 2018 that, “Jail really sucks the blood from you. That’s why I fight.”

He kept his criminal record private before disclosing it in an interview in his lead-up to running for office in which he said "I’m not going to be defined by that one day." He first won election in 2019.

The Virginia General Assembly is the oldest English-speaking legislative body in America. Speaking at the statehouse today he underlined the historic nature of the moment saying that it is "an honor and privilege to be elected as the first black speaker of the House of Delegates, 405 years" after its founding and "coincidentally, 405 years after the first enslaved people who arrived here not far from here."

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