Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, has decided not to enter the already crowded field of Democratic candidates for the 2025 lieutenant governor’s race.
“While I gave it a lot of thought over the summer, now being able to focus on Roanoke and on education tends to keep me pretty busy these days,” he said Wednesday.
Instead, Rasoul, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2021, plans to focus on serving his current constituents, rather than run for statewide office. He noted that his seniority within the House of Delegates has given him the opportunity to focus on issues faced by residents of the Roanoke Valley, and the needs of Virginia’s children as chairman of the House of Delegates Education Committee.
“That’s a passion of mine and to be able to do so in a bipartisan way,” he said.
A challenge issued for all statewide candidates
Rasoul declined to comment on whether he’ll endorse anyone in the lieutenant governor’s race and instead issued a challenge to all candidates seeking statewide office: to get to know the South and Southwest regions of the commonwealth and to get to know the needs and opportunities of the area. There is not yet a candidate in the lieutenant governor’s race, or the governor’s race, from the region.