After losing to Rep. Rob Wittman, R-VA01, in 2024, Leslie Mehta announced Wednesday that she is running for the House of Delegates. She is running in Chesterfield’s HD-73, where the Republican incumbent, Del. Mark Earley, was first elected in 2023.
“Every Virginian deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare, well-paying jobs and reasonable prices, and leaders who will put people over partisan politics,” Mehta said in her announcement Wednesday.
She attacked Earley, calling him an ineffective legislator.
“The incumbent, on the other hand, is so extreme and partisan he has not passed a single bill, not accomplished anything to help his constituents,” she said. “He is completely ineffective, dead last for effectiveness.”
While being in the minority party for the entirety of his first term in office, Earley has not had any success in passing legislation. He filed 15 bills during the current session, but none of them were advanced out of the House.
Seven of his bills did not even receive a hearing.
Only one of his bills in 2024 advanced out of the House last year, but it died in the Senate.
“Democrats know Mark Earley is an effective legislator who gets things done for his district,” said Garren Shipley, a spokesperson for House Republicans. “That’s why partisan Democrats refused to even have a hearing on his common sense bills. He brought forward legislation protecting law enforcement from fentanyl exposure, strengthening anti-child abuse laws and fighting human trafficking, and protecting communities from illegal aliens with multiple criminal offenses. Democrats refused to even give them a hearing.”
Earley did not respond to a request to comment on this story.
He won by nine points in 2023 after raising 24 times the amount of his Democratic opponent. He is the son of former Virginia Attorney General Mark Early Sr., who served from 1998 to 2001. He resigned in 2001 to run for governor and eventually lost to the Democratic nominee, Mark Warner.
Mehta, who is the Interim CEO of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation, is coming out of the gate with a strong endorsement from the likely Democratic nominee for governor, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
“I’m proud to support Leslie Mehta as she runs to serve her community in House District 73. I have worked closely with Leslie, and I know that she is a champion for Virginia’s families,” Spanberger said. “Leslie will bring her intelligence and fierce, compassionate leadership to the General Assembly — working to build a stronger economy for all Virginians, improving access to affordable healthcare, protecting reproductive freedom, and supporting our public schools.”
Mehta is currently the only Democrat who has filed to run against Earley.
She lost to Wittman by 13 points last November, but HD-73 is a bit more favorable to Democrats than VA-01.
Analysis from VPAP shows that Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump by .6% of a point in November.