CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLERIGHTNOW) – When Del. Amy Laufer first got to Richmond for the 2024 General Assembly session, she was, by her own admission, facing a steep learning curve. She was also joining a House of Delegates in which her party, the Democrats, held a slim 51-49 margin and the lieutenant governor – who could cast tie-breaking votes – was a Republican. 

As she prepares to start her second term representing Virginia’s 55th district, much has changed.

“The first year was really, really hard,” Laufer told Cville Right Now this week. “I didn’t know what to expect. I’m really excited about this session. I’ve never had this many colleagues on my side of the aisle. I think it’s going to be a really great opportunity to do some things that we’ve been talking about. I know that is also tempered with the overshadow of what is going on in the federal administration. But I’m humbled and honored to serve the folks of the 55th.”

Indeed, Laufer and her fellow Democrats scored decisive gains in Tuesday’s elections, flipping 13 seats statewide to return to Richmond in January with a 64-36 advantage in the House.

Virginia had its highest voter turnout ever for a non-presidential election, and Laufer credited both the campaign of now-Governor Elect Abigail Spanberger and the sagging popularity of President Donald Trump for the Democratic gains.

“First, I think we had really incredible candidates. I think that had a lot to do with it,” Laufer said. “But I also think that much of what’s going on with the federal government right now did impact voters. The shutdown, SNAP benefits, the cuts to health care that are looming. I think that also played a part.”

That was a common refrain from Democrats around the Commonwealth as they took victory laps following Tuesday’s sweep of the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General’s races and big gains in the House. 

“I think there were two people responsible for what happened,” Sen. Creigh Deeds told Cville Right Now. “Abigail Spanberger was an excellent candidate. She was disciplined. She ran a focused campaign. She talked about things that were important to people. She never lost focus.

“And, people were just sick and tired of what’s coming out of Washington D.C. from Donald Trump. They wanted to send him a loud message. The message got sent loud and clear all over the county, and it’s just the beginning of that. So buckle up.” 

What’s next in Richmond, Laufer said, will be revisiting bills that the Senate and House both passed in the last session, only to have them vetoed when they hit the desk of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

Laufer is looking forward to reintroducing two bills she sponsored that met that fate.

The first is a bill that would prescribe civil penalties for leaving a firearm unattended in an automobile. 

The second is legislation that would give faculty and staff representation on university boards of visitors. And Laufer said she’ll likely amend that legislation to give those representatives voting privileges. 

The bill, Laufer hopes, will help strengthen university boards at a time when the Trump administration has ramped up the level of federal influence on state universities to previously unseen levels.

At the University of Virginia, pressure from Department of Justice investigations – and the threat of reduced federal funding for the school – led to the resignation of former President Jim Ryan.

“This is unprecedented,” Laufer said. “Universities, their charge is to be questioning, to be a place of free speech and thought. The idea of our president intervening with the full weight of the DOJ, it’s very concerning. My part of this with the Board of Visitors bill, is to include faculty and staff so that there is some vocal accountability to protect the university.”

Laufer said colleagues in the House and Senate may also consider legislation to allow universities to have independent legal counsel, instead of having those lawyers work under the attorney general. 

Of course, one of the biggest issues in front of the next General Assembly session will be the redistricting amendment both the House and Senate passed this month in response to Republican redistricting efforts in places like Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. 

Virginia law requires that amendment be passed by a second session of the Assembly, then voted on by the citizens.

Laufer said the proposed amendment won’t interfere with the work of the bipartisan redistricting commission, which is on the same schedule as the census. 

“it is responding to what is happening across our country with a presiding president who is asking states to redistrict without voter input to create maps that will absolutely favor his party,” Laufer said. “I think we have a job to make sure that Virginians, if they want to weigh in on this situation, they have the opportunity to do so.”

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, who was elected Lieutenant Governor on Tuesday, told Cville Right Now last month, “Virginians are angry about the direction of the country, the direction that Donald Trump has been taking us. My Senate colleagues and I, as well as our House colleagues, we are responding to the urgency of the moment. We’re responding to what the Virginians have been asking us to do. … This constitutional amendment is returning power back to the people.”

The power of the people, Laufer said, is what was on display Tuesday for Election Day. 

Even though she was running unopposed, Laufer said she went out to a number of polling places to thank voters and election volunteers.

And she admitted that around 6 p.m., she felt a brief pang of Election Day jitters.

“I suddenly had this feeling that maybe I was wrong,” Laufer said. “Maybe there was somebody on the ballot.”