Profile in Courage: Virginia Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D)

It’s easy for lawmakers to take other people’s money and use it to enrich cronies and fund pet projects. Thanks to a stadium subsidy scheme being pushed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), Virginian taxpayers are set to be on the receiving end of this pernicious politicking. Fortunately, some policymakers are brave enough to stand up for Old Dominion taxpayers. State Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D) has used her clout on the Senate Appropriations Committee to block a bill that would bilk taxpayers for more than $1 billion to fund a new Wizards and Capitals sports arena in Alexandria, Virginia for the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals (both owned by the firm Monumental Sports). The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) may not ordinarily see eye-to-eye with Sen. Lucas on many policy specifics, but she has taken a courageous stand to protect taxpayers and curb cronyism. For doing the right thing even against powerful opposition, Sen. Lucas is absolutely a Profile in Courage.

Some (well, many) politicians start out as lawyers, while others are scions of political dynasties. Sen. Lucas was neither. The passionate politico began her career as shipfitter, becoming the first woman to graduate from the apprentice program at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Her ambition led her to take on more responsibilities, including serving as Engineering Draftsman and Naval Architect Technician. Lucas rose the ranks and became the Command Federal Women’s Program Manager at the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANTFLT) and Equal Employment Manager at the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair (SUPSHIP).

While the future state senator proved adept at navigating the choppy seas of Naval bureaucracy, she was not destined for the docks forever. Lucas was elected as the first Black woman to Portsmouth City Council in 1984 and used her new-found power to improve educational opportunities for marginalized students and ensure that all residents felt welcome in the city. The 1980s were a fraught time in the city, and Black residents were regularly threatened by cross burnings, racial threats, and the planned closure of historically African-American institutions such as I.C. Norcom High School. While these problems went beyond any individual councilmember, Sen. Lucas did her best to rally and comfort the community and fight residual discrimination on city-owned land.

Lucas’ political career grew by leaps and bounds. She was elected to represent southeastern Virginia’s 18th District in the Senate of Virginia in 1991. In 2019, Lucas became the first Black woman elected its president pro tempore. In her storied, three-decade career in the Virginia Senate, Sen. Lucas has pushed for many policies that, while well-intended, TPA would not support. However, her current battle against stadium subsidies speaks volumes about her principles and resolve.

Throughout 2023, Gov. Youngkin and Virginia politicos quietly convinced billionaire Wizards/Capitals owner Ted Leonsis to move his basketball and hockey teams across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. to Alexandria, Virginia. This move would not come cheaply for taxpayers. According to a deal reached in December, Virginia taxpayers would have to shell out $1.3 billion for an “industry-leading arena” featuring a media art studio and practice and e-sports facilities.

Sen. Lucas quickly spoke out against this blatant cash grab, stating that any proposal to bilk taxpayers for a Wizards/Capitals stadium would be “dead on arrival” at her desk. She rightly noted, “Virginia’s hard-working taxpayers deserve to have that money utilized in such a way that it benefits them, and not billionaires that want to enrich themselves further on the backs of hard-working people.” With Sen. Lucas at the helm of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, any state budget language funding the project will “absolutely” be scrapped.

Lucas has also taken the opportunity to limit funding for the deeply-dysfunctional Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which she argues, “has not done a good job of managing their resources.” She’s certainly not wrong about a system plagued by long wait times, derailments, and rampant crime.

Sen. Lucas is up against Gov. Youngkin and powerful political backers of both the arena proposal and Metro funding, and it remains to be seen whether her fiscal fight will be successful. Regardless, she is a Profile in Courage for standing up for taxpayers.