Dawn Adams
Dawn Marie Adams (born November 6, 1964) is an American politician serving as the Delegate from the 68th District of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2018. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Adams is a nurse practitioner and small business owner as well as a former Director of the Office of Integrated Health at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and a former Health Policy adjunct faculty at the Old Dominion University. As an openly lesbian woman, Adams is the first lesbian elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia  General Assembly. Adams is one of four openly LGBT people currently serving in the Virginia General Assembly (alongside Adam Ebbin, Mark Sickles, and Danica Roem). Political career. In 2017, Adams challenged Republican incumbent Manoli Loupassi for the 68th district seat in the House of Delegates, ultimately winning by 336 votes of the 40,000 cast in the district. Adams is Virginia's first openly lesbian member of the Virginia General Assembly, and became part of a record high with 25 women elected to the House of Delegates that year (the previous record had been 19). Her committee assignments include the House  Militia, Police and Public Safety, and The House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committees. She was reelected over Republican Garrison Coward in the 2019 Virginia House of Delegates election with a majority of 3,568 votes of the 38,000 cast. Legislative issues. Healthcare. Adams has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, which she says has made her aware of the struggles that many seniors experience, from chronic health issues to aging-at-home to financial stability. She believes that legislators have a responsibility to address this problem by decreasing barriers and providing pathways to the needed wraparound supports. Adams apologized  to her constituents after receiving criticism for supporting a late-term abortion bill, saying: "I did not fully read a bill I agreed to co-patron and that wasn’t smart or typical. I will work harder and be better for it."