# Rosalyn Dance

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, was mayor of Petersburg, Virginia from 1992 to 2004, and is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Virginia Department of Elections. Dance is a member of the Democratic Party.

## Early life

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

## Electoral history

Dance was elected to the Petersburg City Council in 1992.
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. 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.
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.
In 2019, Dance sponsored a bill to gradually increase Virginia's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 per hour by 2021. Later that year, she ran for reelection to her state senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by disbarred attorney Joe Morrissey.
| Date | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| Virginia House of Delegates, 63rd district ||||||
| November 6, 2001 | General | Fenton Bland | Democratic | 8,774 | 52.48 |
| November 6, 2001 | General | Rosalyn Dance | Independent | 7,926 | 47.40 |
| November 6, 2001 | General | Write Ins | Write Ins | 20 | 0.12 |
| March 22, 2005 | Special | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 4,342 | 68.78 |
| March 22, 2005 | Special | A G Sims | Republican | 1,690 | 26.77 |
| March 22, 2005 | Special | M W Bratschi | Independent | 271 | 4.29 |
| March 22, 2005 | Special | Write Ins | Write Ins | 10 | 0.16 |
| Fenton Bland resigned; seat stayed Democratic ||||
| November 8, 2005 | General | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 9,456 | 60.29 |
| November 8, 2005 | General | D H Dphrepaulezz | Independent | 6,177 | 39.38 |
| November 8, 2005 | General | Write Ins | Write Ins | 52 | 0.33 |
| November 6, 2007 | General | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 8,684 | 98.07 |
| November 6, 2007 | General | Write Ins | Write Ins | 170 | 1.92 |
| November 3, 2009 | General | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 12,375 | 96.42 |
| November 3, 2009 | General | Write Ins | Write Ins | 459 | 3.57 |
| November 8, 2011 | General | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 10,775 | 96.64 |
| November 8, 2011 | General | Write Ins | Write Ins | 374 | 3.35 |
| June 11, 2013 | Democratic primary | Rosalyn Dance | Rosalyn Dance | 2,471 | 52.82 |
| June 11, 2013 | Democratic primary | Evandra D. Thompson | Evandra D. Thompson | 2,207 | 47.18 |
| November 5, 2013 | General | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 15,962 | 95.72 |
| November 5, 2013 | General | Write Ins | Write Ins | 714 | 4.28 |
| Senate of Virginia, 16th district ||||||
| August 9, 2014 | Special primary | Rosalyn Dance | Rosalyn Dance | 1,725 | 45.4 |
| August 9, 2014 | Special primary | Delores McQuinn | Delores McQuinn | 1,375 | 36.2 |
| August 9, 2014 | Special primary | Rudy McCollum | Rudy McCollum | 592 | 15.6 |
| August 9, 2014 | Special primary | Gerry Rawlinson | Gerry Rawlinson | 108 | 2.8 |
| November 4, 2014 | Special general | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 29,237 | 73.0 |
| November 4, 2014 | Special general | Preston "Famous" Brown | Independent | 10,154 | 25.4 |
| November 4, 2014 | Special general | Write Ins | Write Ins | 645 | 1.6 |
| Henry L. Marsh resigned; seat stayed Democratic ||||
| June 9, 2015 | Democratic Primary | Rosalyn Dance | Rosalyn Dance | 4,967 | 62.0 |
| June 9, 2015 | Democratic Primary | Joseph E. Preston | Joseph E. Preston | 3,039 | 37.9 |
| June 9, 2015 | Democratic Primary | Write Ins | Write Ins | 2 | 0.0 |
| November 3, 2015 | General election | Rosalyn Dance | Democratic | 17,331 | 72.7 |
| November 3, 2015 | General election | Joe Morrissey | Independent | 6,090 | 25.5 |
| November 3, 2015 | General election | Write Ins | Write Ins | 428 | 1.8 |
| June 11, 2019 | Democratic primary | Joe Morrissey | Joe Morrissey | 8,741 | 55.0 |
| June 11, 2019 | Democratic primary | Rosalyn Dance | Rosalyn Dance | 6,873 | 44.0 |
| June 11, 2019 | Democratic primary | Write Ins | Write Ins | 6 | 0.0 |