Don Scott, Speaker the Virginia House of Delegates, has had a meteoric rise within the Statehouse. The Delegates unanimously voted him in as Speaker on Wednesday.

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Don Scott, Speaker the Virginia House of Delegates, has had a meteoric rise within the Statehouse. The Delegates unanimously voted him in as Speaker on Wednesday.

Shaban Athuman/VPM

The Virginia General Assembly unanimously elected Democrat Don Scott as home speaker on Wednesday, making him the primary Black speaker within the Virginia House of Delegates’ historical past.

Del. Scott approached the rostrum to cheers and a standing ovation as he took the oath of workplace and commenced his time period because the chief of the House.

“My first immediate emotion is just gratitude. I’m very grateful,” stated Scott, tearing up as he thanked his 88 yr previous mom and his spouse, watching from the gallery.

“The historic nature of this moment is not lost on me,” he informed the House.

“I pray that it is a proud moment for all of us, as we nominate Delegate Don Scott as our next speaker of the house,” stated Del. Luke E. Torian in his nomination speech.

“Over 400 years ago, people who looked like Delegate Scott gave their sweat blood and tears to build this Capitol,” Del. Torian elaborated. “And I would say that is probably only right and fitting and appropriate that 400 years later, a person of color, an African American, whose ancestors helped to build this capital now stands to help lead this House of Delegates.”

From jail to politics

Scott says the Navy ships docked in his district, just like the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), are a reminder of a name to public service that began along with his time within the Navy as a younger man.

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Scott says the Navy ships docked in his district, just like the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), are a reminder of a name to public service that began along with his time within the Navy as a younger man.

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Scott, a 58 year-old Navy veteran and lawyer representing the Southeastern Virginia metropolis of Portsmouth, rapidly distinguished himself within the Democratic Caucus partially because of his unconventional path to the statehouse.

As a legislation pupil, Scott was convicted on a drug-related cost in 1994 and spent almost eight years incarcerated in federal jail. After his launch, Scott constructed a profitable profession as a trial lawyer in Portsmouth, which put him within the public eye and drew consideration to his previous.

In 2018, whereas within the midst of defending a city councilman accused of forgery, an area reporter realized of Scott’s time in jail and contacted him for a narrative. Scott hadn’t tried to maintain his conviction a secret, however now it was broadly recognized, and on the front-page of the Sunday paper.

“When you have a conviction, which I had a felony conviction that’s now 30 years old, you never really feel comfortable,” Scott informed NPR, from his workplace in Portsmouth. “You always feel like you have to be careful on how far you can go and you put limits on yourself.”

That modified for Scott when a buddy reached out after studying the article.

“You’re free now,” Scott remembers the buddy texting. “So whatever you want to do now, you can do it.”

And what Scott needed to do was run for workplace.

Scott credit the ladies in his life, together with his spouse, Dr. Mellanda Y. Colson Scott, for restoring his self-confidence and ambition after jail.

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Scott credit the ladies in his life, together with his spouse, Dr. Mellanda Y. Colson Scott, for restoring his self-confidence and ambition after jail.

Shaban Athuman/VPM

A platform constructed on private expertise

Scott received his first race for the Virginia House in 2019. He ran on a platform of legal justice reform, formed by his time on each side of the authorized system. Scott says, these experiences gave him one other edge on the marketing campaign path, too.

“I used to always say the worst thing that will happen to me will not be losing an election,” he muses.

Scott grew up in Texas; considered one of six kids raised by a single mom who struggled to make ends meet. Scott remembers meals of mayonnaise sandwiches and lengthy hours on the native library, which his mom leaned on free of charge childcare. The younger Scott became a voracious reader, which he says contributed to him going to school.

After serving within the Navy as a floor warfare officer, Scott went to legislation faculty. It was there, in his final yr, {that a} federal courtroom convicted him of conspiracy to own with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Scott says that he was solely choosing up cash for a supplier he knew, and had no intention of promoting the medication himself. He was sentenced to 10 years, and graduated from legislation faculty earlier than heading to jail.

Released almost 8 years later, Scott took a job in Delaware as a case supervisor on a workforce program for individuals on public help, and labored his manner up the profession ladder. Now married and with a younger daughter, Scott says the fixed journey was laborious on his household. So he tapped his legislation diploma, handed the bar examination and took a job in a agency, the place he’s nonetheless a associate.

As minority chief, Scott was tasked with retaking the state legislature in the course of the 2023 elections. His stump speeches targeted on abortion entry and combatting inside threats to democracy.

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As minority chief, Scott was tasked with retaking the state legislature in the course of the 2023 elections. His stump speeches targeted on abortion entry and combatting inside threats to democracy.

Shaban Athuman/VPM

Headwinds flip to headway within the Virginia Capitol

Scott entered the General Assembly in 2020 and began introducing laws on legal justice reform. He introduced nearly a dozen bills to vary the commonwealth’s parole, information expungement, and probation insurance policies. But the freshman delegate rapidly ran right into a roadblock: his personal Democratic social gathering, which held the bulk within the Virginia Statehouse on the time and killed Scott’s payments, almost all upon their first committee listening to.

Then, issues shifted.

Not lengthy into Scott’s first time period, the homicide of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests in state capitals throughout the nation. Suddenly, the problems Scott had tried to sort out had been high of thoughts in Richmond.

Scott revived a few of his previous payments on earned sentence credit and restricted probation, which passed this time.

Going toe-to-toe with Virginia’s conservatives

In legislative classes, Scott’s confrontational fashion stuffed with quips and asides on the ground contributed to his fast rise inside the Democratic caucus.

Early in 2022, Scott took on Gov. Glenn Youngkin after the Republican arrange a “tipline” for Virginians to anonymously report educators for instructing so-called “divisive concepts” like Critical Race Theory.

“What I’ve seen from his day one activities is not someone who is a man of faith, not a Christian, but someone who wants to divide the Commonwealth,” Scott proclaimed to the Virginia House of Delegates, amid boos and jeers from the Republican aspect of the aisle.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin got here to see Scott in his workplace after the Delegate criticized the Gov.’s insurance policies on crucial race concept.

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin got here to see Scott in his workplace after the Delegate criticized the Gov.’s insurance policies on crucial race concept.

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Scott took it in stride. “I know the truth hurts. I don’t want to make you cry, like saying ‘critical race theory,’ because I know it hurts your feelings.”

Scott says quickly after that, Youngkin, who usually speaks publicly about his religion, requested Scott to the governor’s mansion.

“I said, he ain’t the principal and I ain’t a student,” laughs Scott. “If you want to see me, come over here. And to his credit, he came, he came to see me.”

The change raised Scott’s profile once more, and fewer than six months later, he was chosen as home minority chief. After serving simply three legislative classes, Scott was now liable for taking again the chamber from Republicans within the 2023 election.

Building on Black historical past on the Virginia Statehouse

Virginia Democrats did win management of the legislature final fall, and selected Scott as their nominee for speaker.

Before he headed to Richmond for the primary day of the brand new legislative session, Scott gathered supporters in his district for a sendoff social gathering.

As Scott spoke to the gang, he took a second to understand his rise: from the kid of a poor single mom, to chief of America’s first statehouse. He expressed gratitude to the Black legislators who served earlier than him.

“We didn’t even see ourselves ever even raising our hand to run for speaker of the house, let alone achieve it,” he recounted them telling him after his nomination.

“So I’m so grateful that I get the opportunity standing on those giants,” Scott informed the gang. “And want y’all to, when you see me in the room, understand I carry all of y’all with me.”

Scott additionally took a second to acknowledge the enslaved Virginians who built the state Capitol.

Don Scott thanks his supporters throughout a sendoff social gathering in his residence district, earlier than heading to Richmond for the opening of the 2024 legislative session.

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Don Scott thanks his supporters throughout a sendoff social gathering in his residence district, earlier than heading to Richmond for the opening of the 2024 legislative session.

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“Every time I walk into that Capitol y’all – and this is true, I promise you – I see ghosts,” he informed the gang.

“I see our ancestors who were in there, who were emptying people’s urine and emptying the spittoons, building the buildings, breaking their backs while people made decisions about whether they were human or not.”

That historical past continues with Scott’s ascension as the primary Black speaker.

Jahd Khalil is a reporter for VPM News