Rosalyn Dance

Rosalyn Randolph Dance (born February 10, 1948) is an American politician, who served in the Senate of Virginia from 2014 until 2020. She was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2005 to 2014, was mayor of Petersburg, Virginia from 1992 to 2004, and is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Virginia Department of Elections. Dance is a member of the Democratic Party.^[1][2]

Rosalyn Dance
Member of the Virginia Senate from the 16th district
In office November 9, 2014 – January 8, 2020
Preceded by	Henry L. Marsh
Succeeded by	Joe Morrissey
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 63rd district
In office April 6, 2005 – November 9, 2014
Preceded by	Fenton Bland
Succeeded by	Joseph E. Preston
Personal details
Born	Rosalyn Odessa Randolph (1948-02-10) February 10, 1948 (age 77) Chesterfield, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Nathaniel Alfonso Dance, Jr.
Children	Nathaniel Dance III Tanya Dance Kelly
Residence	Petersburg, Virginia
Alma mater	John Tyler Community College Virginia State University Virginia Commonwealth University
Profession	Nurse
Committees	Appropriations; General Laws; Privileges and Elections
Website	Dance for Senate

Early life

Dance was one of 11 children.^[3] She dropped out of high school, but went on to earn several higher degrees.^[3]

Electoral history

Dance was elected to the Petersburg City Council in 1992.^[3]

In 2001, the 63rd Virginia House of Delegates district incumbent, Democrat Jay DeBoer, retired after 18 years. Dance, then mayor of Petersburg, ran for the seat as an independent but lost to the Democratic nominee, funeral director Fenton Bland.

On January 25, 2005, Bland pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; he resigned the 63rd district seat the next day. Dance received the Democratic nomination and was chosen to replace Bland in a special election on March 22.^[4] The 63rd district is southeast of Richmond, made up of the city of Petersburg and part of Hopewell, plus parts of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George Counties. Dance was reelected multiple times, the last in November 2013.

Dance served on the House committees on Appropriations, General Laws, Health, Welfare and Institutions, and Privileges and Elections.^[1]

Dance served in the Senate of Virginia, where she represented District 16, having won a special election on November 4, 2014, to fill the seat once held by Henry L. Marsh.^[1]

In 2019, Dance sponsored a bill to gradually increase Virginia's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 per hour by 2021.^[5] Later that year, she ran for reelection to her state senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by disbarred attorney Joe Morrissey.^[6][7]

Date	Election	Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Virginia House of Delegates, 63rd district
November 6, 2001[8]	General	Fenton Bland	Democratic	8,774	52.48
		Rosalyn Dance	Independent	7,926	47.40
		Write Ins		20	0.12
March 22, 2005[9]	Special	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	4,342	68.78
		A G Sims	Republican	1,690	26.77
		M W Bratschi	Independent	271	4.29
		Write Ins		10	0.16
		Fenton Bland resigned; seat stayed Democratic
November 8, 2005[10]	General	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	9,456	60.29
		D H Dphrepaulezz	Independent	6,177	39.38
		Write Ins		52	0.33
November 6, 2007[11]	General	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	8,684	98.07
		Write Ins		170	1.92
November 3, 2009[12]	General	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	12,375	96.42
		Write Ins		459	3.57
November 8, 2011[13]	General	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	10,775	96.64
		Write Ins		374	3.35
June 11, 2013[14]	Democratic primary	Rosalyn Dance		2,471	52.82
		Evandra D. Thompson		2,207	47.18
November 5, 2013[15]	General	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	15,962	95.72
		Write Ins		714	4.28
Senate of Virginia, 16th district
August 9, 2014[16]	Special primary	Rosalyn Dance		1,725	45.4
		Delores McQuinn		1,375	36.2
		Rudy McCollum		592	15.6
		Gerry Rawlinson		108	2.8
November 4, 2014[17]	Special general	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	29,237	73.0
		Preston "Famous" Brown	Independent	10,154	25.4
		Write Ins		645	1.6
		Henry L. Marsh resigned; seat stayed Democratic
June 9, 2015[18]	Democratic Primary	Rosalyn Dance		4,967	62.0
		Joseph E. Preston		3,039	37.9
		Write Ins		2	0.0
November 3, 2015[19]	General election	Rosalyn Dance	Democratic	17,331	72.7
		Joe Morrissey	Independent	6,090	25.5
		Write Ins		428	1.8
June 11, 2019[20]	Democratic primary	Joe Morrissey		8,741	55.0
		Rosalyn Dance		6,873	44.0
		Write Ins		6	0.0

See also

• List of mayors of Petersburg, Virginia