Shelly Simonds
2024 - Present
2026
1
Shelly Simonds (Democratic Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 70. She assumed office on January 10, 2024. Her current term ends on January 14, 2026.
Simonds (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 70. She won in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Simonds completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Simonds was the Central District representative on the Newport News School Board in Virginia. She was first elected to the board in 2012. Simonds won re-election to her seat in the general election held on May 3, 2016.[1]
Biography
Shelly Simonds was born in Oxford, Ohio. Simonds earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from Bucknell University in 1991 and a master's degree in communications from Stanford University in 1994. Her career experience includes working as a family property manager. Simonds was elected to the Newport News School Board, serving from 2012 to 2019.[2]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Simonds was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee
- Education Committee
- House Privileges and Elections Committee
2020-2021
Simonds was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee
- Education Committee
- House Privileges and Elections Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2023
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2023
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 70
Incumbent Shelly Simonds defeated Matt Waters and Michael Bartley in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 70 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Shelly Simonds (D) | 57.1 | 13,836 | |
| Matt Waters (R) | 39.9 | 9,664 | ||
| Michael Bartley (L) | 2.8 | 674 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 50 | ||
| Total votes: 24,224 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Shelly Simonds advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 70.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Matt Waters advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 70.
Endorsements
Simonds received the following endorsements.
- Pres. Joe Biden (D)
- Vice Pres. Kamala D. Harris (D)
- Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia
2021
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2021
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 94
Incumbent Shelly Simonds defeated Russ Harper in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 94 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Shelly Simonds (D) | 56.0 | 13,725 | |
| Russ Harper (R) | 43.8 | 10,734 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 54 | ||
| Total votes: 24,513 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Shelly Simonds advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 94.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Russ Harper advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 94.
Campaign finance
2019
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 94
Shelly Simonds defeated incumbent David Yancey and Michael Bartley in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 94 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Shelly Simonds (D) | 57.7 | 11,563 | |
| David Yancey (R) | 40.3 | 8,070 | ||
| Michael Bartley (L) | 1.9 | 376 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 25 | ||
| Total votes: 20,034 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
General election
Elections for the Virginia House of Delegates took place in 2017. All 100 house seats were up for election. The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on June 13, 2017. The filing deadline for primary election candidates was March 30, 2017. The filing deadline for non-party candidates and candidates nominated by methods other than a primary was June 13, 2017.[3] Incumbent David Yancey (R) defeated Shelly Simonds (D) and Michael Bartley (Libertarian) in the Virginia House of Delegates District 94 general election. Simonds joined the race after the previous Democratic candidate, Zachary Wittkamp, dropped out in August 2017.[4][5]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 94 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Shelly Simonds | 48.59% | 11,608 | |
| Republican |  David Yancey Incumbent |
48.59% | 11,608 | |
| Libertarian | Michael Bartley | 2.83% | 675 | |
| Total Votes (Race decided by random drawing) | 23,891 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
Democratic primary election
Zachary Wittkamp ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 94 Democratic primary.[6]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 94 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Zachary Wittkamp | ||
Republican primary election
Incumbent David Yancey ran unopposed in the Virginia House of Delegates District 94 Republican primary.[7]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 94 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| David Yancey Incumbent | ||
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Newport News Public Schools school board were up for general election on May 3, 2016. In the North District, Marvin Harris defeated Curtis Bethany and Valerie Young. John Eley III won the South District seat by defeating four other candidates including Sheryl Holmes Abbott, Terri Best, Bethany Martin, and Yugonda Sample. Incumbent Shelly Simonds won re-election to the Central District seat after running unopposed.[1]
Results
| Newport News Public Schools, Central District General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Shelly Simonds (unopposed) |
94.00% | 4,653 |
| Write-in votes | 6% | 297 |
| Total Votes | 4,950 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 May City General Official Results," accessed June 23, 2016 | ||
Funding
Simonds began the race with an existing account balance of $214.80 from her previous campaign. she reported $1,000.00 in contributions and $564.00 in expenditures to Virginia Department of Elections, which left her campaign with $650.80 on hand during the election.[8]
2015
Elections for the Virginia House of Delegates took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 9, 2015. The general election took place on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 26, 2015.[9] Shelly Simonds was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent David Yancey was unopposed in the Republican primary. Yancey defeated Simonds in the general election.[10][11]
| Virginia House of Delegates, District 94 General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | David Yancey Incumbent |
57.6% | 8,140 | |
| Democratic | Shelly Simonds | 42.4% | 6,002 | |
| Total Votes | 14,142 | |||
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Shelly Simonds |
52.5% | 1,657 | |
| Nonpartisan | Betty Bracey Dixon | 47% | 1,483 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.5% | 15 | |
| Total Votes | 3,155 | |||
| Source: Virginia State Board of Elections, "May 2012 City Election Official Results," accessed March 17, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Shelly Simonds completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Simonds' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Education- ensuring that we make teaching the best job in the Commonwealth
- Access to healthcare and maternal reproductive rights
- Job creation and workforce development
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2021
Shelly Simonds did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Shelly Simonds completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Simonds' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Shelly A. Simonds participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on April 29, 2016:
| “ | 1. Pay raises for our teachers and staff. 2. Support for extending learning time like the summer SPARK Program begun last year in our schools. 3. Support for STEM education, especially in robotics and computer programming while maintaining full support of the Arts. 4. Support for long term capital improvement planning to fix our aging school buildings.[12][13] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Our district is well known for having many school choice options through our magnet programs. We also have won national awards for our well-managed budget process so this is not a pressing concern in our city. Since we are an urban district I feel student achievement and excellence in teaching are the most important issues for our families.[13] | ” |
| —Shelly A. Simonds (April 29, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. Sure, bring um on! But Charters will need to meet the same high standards for testing and teacher pay as ALL of our other schools. The School Board has the authority to charter schools in Newport News and we welcome innovation but our same high standards and transparency requirements apply. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. I believe in local control of schools by the school boards of Virginia. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. Yes, accountability is important but our students are more than a test score from one test one day. We need to improve ways to evaluate the whole child through portfolio assessments and other metrics like graduation rates and student development activities. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| We don't have Common Core in Virginia |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Nationally Board Certified Teachers should get merit pay. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. We do not need a voucher system in Virginia for two reasons: we ready have the flexibility to have specialty magnet programs in our schools and Virginia DOES NOT ADEQUATELY fund public education to begin with so there is no room for taking funding away from our schools. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Only for the safety of our students. As sparingly as possible. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2024, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 9. Special sessions occurred May 13, 2024; June 18 to July 1; and July 18, 2024.
|
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2023, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to February 25.
|
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2022, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 12 to March 12.
|
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2021, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 13 to February 8.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2020, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 12. A special session was held from August 18 to November 9.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2019, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through February 24.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2018, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 10 through March 10. Special sessions were held from April 11 to May 30 and from August 30 to October 30.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2017, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through February 25.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 13 through March 11.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 14 to February 28, 2015.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2014, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 8 through March 10.
|
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the Virginia General Assembly was in session from January 9 to February 25.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2012, the Virginia General Assembly was in regular session from January 11 to March 10.
|
See also
2023 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Virginia House of Delegates District 70 |
Officeholder Virginia House of Delegates District 70 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tiffany Rouse, "Email correspondence with Newport News Voter Registrar Vicki Lewis," March 7, 2016
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "Delegate Shelly A. Simonds," accessed January 8, 2024
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Candidacy Requirements for the November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ Daily Press, "Late entry Simonds still far behind Yancey in fundraising," September 22, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General Unofficial Results," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Democratic Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 June Republican Primary," accessed July 6, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2016
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 Primary election results," accessed September 1, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Board of Elections, "2015 General election candidates," accessed September 1, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Shelly A. Simonds's responses," April 29, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Delores McQuinn (D) |
Virginia House of Delegates District 70 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by David Yancey (R) |
Virginia House of Delegates District 94 2020-2024 |
Succeeded by Phil Hernandez (D) |
| Preceded by - |
Newport News Public Schools, Central District 2012-2019 |
Succeeded by - |
