Leslie Mehta
Leslie Mehta | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 73rd district | |
| Assumed office January 14, 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Earley Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Party | Democratic |
| Website | https://lesliemehta.com/ |
Leslie C. Mehta is an American politician who is the elected member of the Virginia House of Delegates for the 73rd District. She took office as a member of the 164th Virginia General Assembly on January 14, 2026. She won election on November 4, 2025, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Earley Jr. by a margin of 3.66%. [1]
Mehta grew up in a small town in rural North Carolina, where her mother was a social worker and her father was a corrections officer. She is a lawyer, and was the former legal director for the Virginia American Civil Liberties Union. She was appointed to the Commission on Racial Inequity in the Law by Virginia governor Ralph Northam, and to the Rare Disease Council by governor Glenn Youngkin. She was also the interim CEO of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. Her eldest daughter died from Rett syndrome in 2021.[2]
Mehta ran as the Democratic nominee against Republican incumbent Rob Wittman in the election for Virginia's 1st congressional district in 2024 and was unsuccessful.[3][4]
In her 2025 election, she was endorsed by Planned Parenthood of Virginia, Clean Virginia, the Sierra Club, EMILYs List, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Virginians for Change, Giffords PAC, Virginia Service Employees International Union, the Virginia AFL-CIO, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the Mid-Atlantic Pipe Trades Association.[5]
Electoral History
[edit]2025
[edit]| Primary election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
| Democratic | Leslie Mehta | 5,341 | 76.37 | |||
| Democratic | Justin Woodford | 1,653 | 23.63 | |||
| Total votes | 6,994 | 100.00 | ||||
| General election | ||||||
| Democratic | Leslie Mehta | 26,122 | 51.78 | |||
| Republican | Mark Earley Jr. | 24,275 | 48.12 | |||
| Total votes | 50,397 | 99.90 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
References
[edit]- ↑ Peifer, Karri (2025-11-05). "Richmond flips help Democrats expand Virginia House majority". Axios. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "Meet Leslie". Leslie Chambers Mehta for Virginia. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ Woods, Charlotte Rene (2024-10-21). "Leslie Mehta hopes to flip Virginia's Republican-leaning 1st Congressional District • Virginia Mercury". Virginia Mercury. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "Virginia Elections Database » Candidate Profile..." Virginia Elections Database. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "Endorsements". Leslie Chambers Mehta for Virginia. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "Leslie Mehta". Virginia Public Access Project.
External links
[edit]- Living people
- 21st-century American women politicians
- American Civil Liberties Union people
- Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
- 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly
- Women state legislators in Virginia
- Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections