Eileen Filler-Corn (D) will serve as the first female and first Jewish speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. The House of Delegates and Virginia State Senate comprise the Virginia General Assembly—the oldest legislative body in America—having been established in 1619.

The speaker of the House is a partisan leadership position in the House of Delegates. He or she serves as the chief spokesman for the Virginia House, presides over legislative sessions, directs the legislative process, and performs additional administrative and procedural duties.

Filler-Corn will replace the former speaker of the House, Kirk Cox (R), whose party lost control of the Virginia House of Delegates on November 5, 2019. After the 2019 elections, the current partisan composition of the House of Delegates is 55 Democrats and 45 Republicans.

Democrats also gained control of the Virginia State Senate in 2019, resulting in the state becoming a Democratic trifecta. This means Democrats control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governorship.

Filler-Corn served as the House minority leader from 2018 to 2019. She was first elected to the House of Delegates in a special election in March 2010. Before being elected to the House of Delegates, Filler-Corn was an attorney and served as the director of Intergovernmental Affairs for Virginia governor Mark Warner and Virginia governor Tim Kaine.

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Additional Reading:
Virginia House of Delegates
Virginia House of Delegates District 41
State Speaker of the House
Party control of Virginia state government
Kirk Cox