Rosalyn Dance
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the 16th district
In office
November 9, 2014 – January 8, 2020
Preceded byHenry L. Marsh
Succeeded byJoe Morrissey
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 63rd district
In office
April 6, 2005 – November 9, 2014
Preceded byFenton Bland
Succeeded byJoseph E. Preston
Personal details
Born
Rosalyn Odessa Randolph

(1948-02-10) February 10, 1948
Chesterfield, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Nathaniel Alfonso Dance, Jr.
ChildrenNathaniel Dance III
Tanya Dance Kelly
ResidencePetersburg, Virginia
Alma materJohn Tyler Community College
Virginia State University
Virginia Commonwealth University
ProfessionNurse
CommitteesAppropriations; General Laws; Privileges and Elections
WebsiteDance for Senate

Rosalyn Randolph Dance (born February 10, 1948) is an American politician, who served in the Senate of Virginia from 2014 until 2020. She was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2005 to 2014, and was mayor of Petersburg, Virginia from 1992 to 2004. Dance is a member of the Democratic Party.[1][2]

Early life

Dance was one of 11 children.[3] She dropped out of high school, but went on to earn several higher degrees.[3]

Electoral history

Dance was elected to the Petersburg City Council in 1992.[3]

In 2001, the 63rd Virginia House of Delegates district incumbent, Democrat Jay DeBoer, retired after 18 years. Dance, then mayor of Petersburg, ran for the seat as an independent but lost to the Democratic nominee, funeral director Fenton Bland.

On January 25, 2005, Bland pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; he resigned the 63rd district seat the next day. Dance received the Democratic nomination and was chosen to replace Bland in a special election on March 22.[4] The 63rd district is southeast of Richmond, made up of the city of Petersburg and part of Hopewell, plus parts of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George Counties. Dance was reelected multiple times, the last in November 2013.

Dance served on the House committees on Appropriations, General Laws, Health, Welfare and Institutions, and Privileges and Elections.[1]

Dance served in the Senate of Virginia, where she represented District 16, having won a special election on November 4, 2014, to fill the seat once held by Henry L. Marsh.[1]

In 2019, Dance sponsored a bill to gradually increase Virginia's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 per hour by 2021.[5] Later that year, she ran for reelection to her state senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by disbarred attorney Joe Morrissey.[6][7]

DateElectionCandidatePartyVotes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 63rd district
November 6, 2001[8] General Fenton Bland Democratic 8,774 52.48
Rosalyn Dance Independent 7,926 47.40
Write Ins 20 0.12
March 22, 2005[9] Special Rosalyn Dance Democratic 4,342 68.78
A G Sims Republican 1,690 26.77
M W Bratschi Independent 271 4.29
Write Ins 10 0.16
Fenton Bland resigned; seat stayed Democratic
November 8, 2005[10] General Rosalyn Dance Democratic 9,456 60.29
D H Dphrepaulezz Independent 6,177 39.38
Write Ins 52 0.33
November 6, 2007[11] General Rosalyn Dance Democratic 8,684 98.07
Write Ins 170 1.92
November 3, 2009[12] General Rosalyn Dance Democratic 12,375 96.42
Write Ins 459 3.57
November 8, 2011[13] General Rosalyn Dance Democratic 10,775 96.64
Write Ins 374 3.35
June 11, 2013[14] Democratic primary Rosalyn Dance 2,471 52.82
Evandra D. Thompson 2,207 47.18
November 5, 2013[15] General Rosalyn Dance Democratic 15,962 95.72
Write Ins 714 4.28
Senate of Virginia, 16th district
August 9, 2014[16] Special primary Rosalyn Dance 1,725 45.4
Delores McQuinn 1,375 36.2
Rudy McCollum 592 15.6
Gerry Rawlinson 108 2.8
November 4, 2014[17] Special general Rosalyn Dance Democratic 29,237 73.0
Preston "Famous" Brown Independent 10,154 25.4
Write Ins 645 1.6
Henry L. Marsh resigned; seat stayed Democratic
June 9, 2015[18] Democratic Primary Rosalyn Dance 4,967 62.0
Joseph E. Preston 3,039 37.9
Write Ins 2 0.0
November 3, 2015[19] General election Rosalyn Dance Democratic 17,331 72.7
Joe Morrissey Independent 6,090 25.5
Write Ins 428 1.8
June 11, 2019[20] Democratic primary Joe Morrissey 8,741 55.0
Rosalyn Dance 6,873 44.0
Write Ins 6 0.0

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rosalyn R. Dance". Senate of Virginia. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Meet Delegate Dance". Delegate Rosalyn R. Dance - Virginia's 63rd District. Retrieved June 14, 2013. (campaign/constituent website)
  3. 1 2 3 "Fresh off tough primary win, Dance sees chance to rise". Richmond Times-Dispatch. August 2, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  4. ↑ Lewis, Bob (April 29, 2005). "Former Va. Delegate Sentenced to Federal Prison". Associated Press. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ "In surprise, Senate panel advances bill to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2021". Roanoke Times. January 14, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  6. ↑ Gregory Schneider, Jenna Portnoy, and Laura Vozzella (June 11, 2019). "After scandal and stint in jail, Joe Morrissey wins Virginia state Senate primary". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 11, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Mel Leonor and Michael Martz (June 11, 2019). "Joe Morrissey knocks off Sen. Rosalyn Dance in Democratic primary". Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ "General Election- November 6, 2001". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 29, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Special Election- March 22, 2005". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  10. ↑ "General Election- November 8, 2005". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  11. ↑ "November 6, 2007 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  12. ↑ "November 2009 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ "November 2011 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Unofficial Results - Primary Election - June 11, 2013". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  15. ↑ "November 2013 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections.
  16. ↑ "Del. Rosalyn R. Dance wins Senate primary". NBC 12. August 10, 2014.
  17. ↑ "November 2014 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  18. ↑ "June 2015 Democratic Primary Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  19. ↑ "November 2015 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  20. ↑ "June 2019 Democratic Primary Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
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