Share
Virginia State Senate
David Suetterlein
State Senate — District 4
Republican
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
92
/ 100
A
Raw: 44 of 48 dynamic max
· 24 of 49 answered
State tier49 of 50 rubric questions apply at this office level — federal-only questions are marked N/A and excluded from the dynamic max. How tier grading works →
Last verified: · from claim evidence
✝ God First
36/ 70
🏛️ State First
8/ 30
National Rank
#3,852 of 9,024 · top 42.7% among candidates with at least one scored answer
See the full rankings →Contact This Official
Reach out directly. Your voice matters. Proverbs 29:2 — When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
Next Election
November 2, 2027
General · Seat up at next election
— until
Registration deadline: 2026-10-13
Early voting: 2026-09-18 – 2026-10-31
State elections office: (804) 864-8901
Voter status: Check registration
State elections site: Virginia Department of Elections
Official Profile
Religion: Christian — New Hope Christian Church, Garden City (children's ministry)
Background: VA Senate District 4 (Roanoke Valley) since 2016. Realtor; Grove City College; former Roanoke County GOP chair.
VA State Senator, SD-4 (R), since 2016. [2026-06 overnight refinement, state tier] Conservative on most dimensions BUT a documented cross-party deviation on marriage: voted YES on the same-sex-marriage constitutional amendment (HJ3, one of only 5 Republican crossovers — DeSteph, Diggs, Durant, Jordan, Suetterlein) — biblical_marriage FALSE. Otherwise: NO on the reproductive-freedom amendment (party-line); strong tax-cut record (full grocery-tax repeal, higher standard deduction, EITC); patron of a parental-notification school bill (SB817); opposed the 2026 assault-weapons ban (NRA-endorsed). Other dimensions left null pending cited votes.
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
1 claim
Suetterlein supported in committee a bill that would have banned abortion in Virginia completely — with only limited exceptions — and imposed felony penalties for performing illegal abortions. He has repeatedly stated he views abortion as 'a tragedy' and has advocated for increasing contraceptive access and family life education to reduce abortion demand, while opposing the broader availability of elective abortion.
- roanokerambler.comUnclassified
- BallotpediaCenter
Candidate has voted for or sponsored state legislation moving toward abortion abolition (e.g., heartbeat ban, total ban) — not merely restrictions
1 claim
Voted NO on SJ247 (January 21, 2025), the constitutional amendment to embed an absolute 'right to reproductive freedom' in the Virginia constitution — a measure that would prohibit any state regulation of abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Suetterlein was among all 19 Senate Republicans who rejected the amendment.
- Virginia Legislative Information SystemOfficial
- VPM — Virginia Public MediaLean Left
Candidate opposes state funding for embryonic stem-cell research and supports state IVF embryo-protection laws
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes state physician-assisted suicide laws and opposes state Medicaid death-panel rationing
Not yet verified
FEC / state campaign-finance search found no abortion-industry PAC contributions for state-legislative or statewide-office campaigns (as of the cited search date)
Not yet verified
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate opposes state recognition of same-sex marriage / civil unions / domestic partnerships, and supports state non-recognition resolutions where federally permitted
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state legislation affirming biological sex (bathroom/locker access, sports participation, minor gender-procedure bans)
Candidate supports state no-fault divorce reform and pro-marriage policy (covenant marriage option, waiting periods, etc.)
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes promotion of LGBTQ+ identity in state-funded schools, state agencies, and state corporate-partnership programs
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate has voted for state school-choice (vouchers, ESAs, charter expansion) and supports state homeschool freedom statutes
Candidate has voted for state law requiring parental notification + consent on minors' medical, mental-health, and gender interventions (incl. school counseling referrals)
Candidate has voted for state law restricting CRT/SOGI/comprehensive-sex-ed/gender-ideology curricula in K-12
Candidate has voted for state age-verification laws on pornographic content and state criminal penalties for sexualizing minors
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
Candidate has voted for state conscience-exemption laws (state RFRA, medical-professional carve-outs, business-owner protections)
Candidate opposes state-level pronoun mandates + state 'hate speech' laws restricting Christian conviction
Candidate supports state public-square Christian display protections + state legislative prayer + state Sunday-closure laws
Candidate opposes state-funded promotion of non-Christian religious displays/curricula/holidays in state institutions
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state law protecting cash as legal tender, opposing state-level CBDC pilot programs, and protecting crypto-as-property status
Not yet verified
Candidate supports sound-money policies including gold/silver as constitutional money and audit/abolition of the Federal Reserve
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has voted for state balanced-budget compliance + opposed state borrowing for non-capital expenditures
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state usury caps + state predatory-lending protections + state charitable-deduction parity
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state pension/treasury divestment from ESG-aligned funds (e.g., BlackRock) + state anti-monopoly enforcement against financial cartels
Not yet verified
Candidate (state SoS/legislature) has voted for state hand-count requirements / opposed electronic voting machines
Not yet verified
Candidate (state SoS/legislature) has voted for state photo voter ID + citizenship verification at registration
Candidate has voted to restrict state early-voting windows + tighten state absentee qualifications to verified medical/military
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted against state mass mail-in voting expansion, against state drop-box deployment, and against legalizing ballot harvesting
Candidate (state) has voted for state-funded border-security measures (e.g., TX Operation Lone Star analog, AZ wall expansion)
Not yet verified
Candidate (state) has voted for state laws requiring local cooperation with ICE deportation enforcement
Candidate (state) has voted to preempt or punish sanctuary-city policies + ban state cities from declaring sanctuary status
Candidate (state) has voted for state E-Verify mandate (beyond federal floor) for state employers + state-benefit eligibility verification
Not yet verified
Candidate (state) has voted to restrict foreign ownership of state farmland (e.g., China-buyer prohibitions)
Not yet verified
Candidate (state) has voted against state red-flag laws, mag-capacity limits, AWBs, and registries (or voted to repeal where enacted)
1 claim
Voted NO on SB749 (2026), Virginia's assault-firearms and high-capacity magazine ban. Suetterlein has a track record of passing more than 50 bills into law, many with bipartisan support, but drew a clear line against gun restrictions, opposing the Democrat-backed firearms ban on constitutional grounds alongside all Senate Republicans.
- Virginia Legislative Information SystemOfficial
- suetterlein.comUnclassified
Candidate (state) has voted for state constitutional-carry statute
Not yet verified
Candidate (state) has voted against state universal-background-check schemes
Not yet verified
Candidate (state) has voted to enact / strengthen state Castle Doctrine + stand-your-ground statute
Not yet verified
Candidate has publicly backed law enforcement and opposed defunding/dismantling police
Candidate opposes cashless-bail, soft-on-crime, and rogue-prosecutor (e.g. Soros-DA) policy
Candidate refuses to treat violent crime as a "public health" excuse to avoid punishment
Not yet verified
Candidate affirms the magistrate's God-ordained duty to bear the sword (Rom. 13:4)
Not yet verified
Official has voted for or sponsored 10th-Amendment nullification or anti-commandeering measures
Not yet verified
Official has declined unconstitutional federal mandates or federal strings on the state
Not yet verified
Official has resisted federal overreach on guns, life, education, or religious liberty
Not yet verified
Official affirms state sovereignty against unconstitutional federal action
Not yet verified
Official has opposed federal capture of state elections, data, or land
Not yet verified
Sources & Evidence
1 Lean Left1 Center4 Right3 Official2 Reference9 Other
Vote Smart — Voting RecordReference
reportcard.familyfoundation.org/Right Advocacy
www.vcdl.org/Right Advocacy
reportcard.familyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2...Right Advocacy
freedomindex.us/va/Right Advocacy
Ballotpedia ProfileCenter
www.suetterlein.com/Unclassified
prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdfUnclassified
virginia.gop/our-party/Unclassified
Bias ratings sourced from AllSides and Ad Fontes Media. Classifications for government, reference, and advocacy domains are maintained by U.S.M.C. Ministries; see source_bias.json.
References & footnotes
Every answer above with a [n] marker corresponds to one of the footnotes below. Wayback-archive links preserve the page as it read at our access date so a reader can verify the citation even if the original URL changes or disappears.
- [1]NO on the reproductive-freedom amendment (party-line, both references). Lean Left
NO on the reproductive-freedom amendment (party-line, both references).
- [2]Patron of SB817 requiring schools to notify parents of course-enrollment/change procedures. Center
Patron of SB817 requiring schools to notify parents of course-enrollment/change procedures.
- [3]kind: party_platform. Scored from the 2024 Republican National Platform (leftover STATE sanctity_of_life q1) — VA STATE leftover remainder this turn: virginia.gop/our-party/ HTTP 200 is leadership/Party Plan only (no leftover q-map); virginia.gop statement HTTP 200 endorses the 2024 RNC platform (not an independent leftover q-map). presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-republican-party-platform HTTP 200; prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdf HTTP 200. On-file leftover STATE map (data/party-platforms.json rnc-2024 state): sanctity_of_life True. Individual/affiliated evidence overrides where cited on other leftover cells. No invented roll-calls. Blank > wrong. Official S101 HTTP 200 bio/committees only this turn. Unclassified
kind: party_platform. Scored from the 2024 Republican National Platform (leftover STATE sanctity_of_life q1) — VA STATE leftover remainder this turn: virginia.gop/our-party/ HTTP 200 is leadership/Party Plan only (no leftover q-map); virginia.gop statement HTTP 200 endorses the 2024 RNC platform (not an independent leftover q-map). presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-republican-party-platform HTTP 200; prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdf HTTP 200. On-file leftover STATE map (data/party-platforms.json rnc-2024 state): sanctity_of_life True. Individual/affiliated evidence overrides where cited on other leftover cells. No invented roll-calls. Blank > wrong. Official S101 HTTP 200 bio/committees only this turn.
- [4]kind: party_platform. Scored from the 2024 Republican National Platform (leftover STATE sanctity_of_life q1) — VA STATE leftover remainder this turn: virginia.gop/our-party/ HTTP 200 is leadership/Party Plan only (no leftover q-map); virginia.gop statement HTTP 200 endorses the 2024 RNC platform (not an independent leftover q-map). presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-republican-party-platform HTTP 200; prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdf HTTP 200. On-file leftover STATE map (data/party-platforms.json rnc-2024 state): sanctity_of_life True. Individual/affiliated evidence overrides where cited on other leftover cells. No invented roll-calls. Blank > wrong. Official S101 HTTP 200 bio/committees only this turn. Unclassified
kind: party_platform. Scored from the 2024 Republican National Platform (leftover STATE sanctity_of_life q1) — VA STATE leftover remainder this turn: virginia.gop/our-party/ HTTP 200 is leadership/Party Plan only (no leftover q-map); virginia.gop statement HTTP 200 endorses the 2024 RNC platform (not an independent leftover q-map). presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-republican-party-platform HTTP 200; prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdf HTTP 200. On-file leftover STATE map (data/party-platforms.json rnc-2024 state): sanctity_of_life True. Individual/affiliated evidence overrides where cited on other leftover cells. No invented roll-calls. Blank > wrong. Official S101 HTTP 200 bio/committees only this turn.
Have Information About This Official?
Help us improve this scorecard. If you have evidence of this official's positions — voting records, social media posts, public statements, or corrections — submit it below and we'll review and update the profile.