Republican incumbent Kim Taylor said Tuesday she will seek a third term for the seat that stretches from Dinwiddie County to Surry County and also includes Petersburg and Prince George County. Her announcement sets the stage for a repeat of the 2022 contest with Democratic challenger Kimberly Pope Adams, a race that went all the way to the wire with a recount.
Buoyed by the closeness of that race, Adams announced last November that she would make a second run at Taylor.
Taylor, a business owner from central Virginia, called her service in Richmond “a privilege” in her re-election announcement. It comes just as she and the other 139 state lawmakers headed to Richmond on Wednesday for the opening of the 2025 session of the General Assembly — a session that will be in recess until Jan. 13 as Richmond looks for a way out of its water crisis.
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Improvements in infrastructure, restoration of ferry service noted
She cited her support over the past three years for measures to improve law enforcement, infrastructure and education. Taylor said she will support similar efforts in Richmond this year, as well as initiatives that will strengthen laws against sex trafficking and promote economic stability and the expansion of health care.
Taylor
Taylor touts her efforts to secure millions of dollars in state funding for the expansion of the Poor Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in South Petersburg to meet the expected spike in needs given the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the upcoming casino. In an op-ed last year, she also called for continued growth in rural broadband services, which would increase not only business but also residential opportunities.
“During her time in the Virginia General Assembly, Rep. Kim Taylor has secured critical funding for infrastructure projects from Petersburg City to the Surry Ferry, expanded resources for first responders, and ensured teachers have access to the tools and opportunities to provide students with a high-quality education offer,” her re-election announcement read.
Concluding her announcement, Taylor wrote, “I am proud of my record of standing up for hardworking Virginians concerned about rising costs to their families, and I remain committed to being the leader the 82nd District deserves.”
What about the casino in Petersburg?
Conspicuously absent from the announcement was any mention of the Petersburg casino or Taylor’s co-sponsorship of previous legislation that led to the overwhelming ratification of a referendum last year to bring legalized gambling to the city.
In 2022 and 2023, she worked closely with then-Senator. Joe Morrissey wants to consider Petersburg as one of five cities in Virginia where casinos could be located. The 2022 efforts carried over into the 2023 session, and in 2023 a Senate committee killed them — in part because of Morrissey’s unpopularity among Senate Democrats due to his fiery rhetoric and opposition to the party’s pro-choice agenda.
After Morrissey was defeated in the 2023 Democratic primary by former Del. Lashrecse Aird, who defeated Taylor two years earlier to claim the seat, Aird became the main sponsor of the casino legislation in 2024. Taylor, who had said before the session that she expected to carry the House version of the casino package, but was excluded from that co-sponsorship, although she ultimately voted for Aird’s bill when it moved to the House.
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The first re-election went into overtime
In 2023, Democrats targeted Taylor in their efforts to regain party control of the House of Representatives. Adams, a Dinwiddie County resident and accountant at Virginia State University, won the Democratic primary to battle Taylor, who ran unopposed in her party nod.
Nearly $5.8 million, most of it from Democratic sponsors and supporters, was spent on the 2023 election, making it the third most expensive state House campaign in 26 years. Although most of the 82i.e District appeared to be GOP territory, the strong blue base in Petersburg ensured the contest would be competitive.
And competitive it was. Election night ended with Taylor leading Adams by just 78 votes, a razor-thin lead that fell within the state’s margin of error for a recount.
That December recount shrunk Taylor’s lead from 78 to 53 ballots, but was still enough for her to win re-election.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist covering breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Incumbent Del. Kim Taylor announces bid for third term in State House
