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Virginia House of Delegates
Delores Riley Oates
House of Delegates — District 31
Republican
Campaign Website →
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
10
/ 100
—
Raw: 10 of 14 dynamic max
· 7 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
8/ 70
🏛️ State First
2/ 30
National Rank
#4,445 of 9,024 · top 49.3% 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: No denomination publicly named; B.A. in Government from Regent University (a Christian university) and bio states she 'volunteers in various churches' — faith markers, not a stated affiliation.
Background: Delores Riley Oates, VA Delegate HD-31 (Warren/Clarke/Frederick, Shenandoah Valley); took office Jan 10, 2024, re-elected Nov 4, 2025. Born in Front Royal; Warren County resident. A.A.S. Lord Fairfax CC; B.A. Government, Regent University (2017). VP at Foxhound Federal / senior technical recruiter. Former Warren County Board of Supervisors (2019–2023).
VA Delegate HD-31 (Shenandoah Valley), sitting since Jan 2024. [2026-06-02 RESOLUTE refinement, state tier] Uniformly conservative HARD record verified from individual LIS roll-call vote records (her personal Yea/Nay codes, 2025 SessionID 57 + 2026 SessionID 59) plus chief-patron bills and direct statements. CROSS-PARTY CHECK: she did NOT cross over (unlike Tara Durant) — voted NAY on the same-sex-marriage amendment (HJ9 2025, HJ3 2026) and NAY on the reproductive-freedom amendment (HJ1 2025+2026). Pro-life ('human life begins at conception'); chief patron of women's-sports/biological-sex bills (HB1809/HB1242); supports school choice + homeschool tax credits; YEA on National Day of Prayer (SJ59) and religious accommodations (HB131); tax-relief and anti-minimum-wage votes; chief patron of voter-ID tightening (HB2402/HB1213); pro-police and anti-cashless-bail votes; opposed anti-ICE-cooperation bills (HB1441); consistent pro-2A NAY votes on the entire gun-control package. Thin cells (federal overreach, several sub-topics) left null — credit held to documented votes, not inferred from party.
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
Not yet verified
1 claim
Voted NO on the Virginia Reproductive Freedom Constitutional Amendment in January 2025, standing with all 46 House Republicans against the Democrat-backed measure to write unlimited abortion access into the state constitution (51–48 party-line vote).
- osvnews.comUnclassified
- WHRO (Hampton Roads PBS/NPR)Lean Left
Candidate has voted for or sponsored state legislation moving toward abortion abolition (e.g., heartbeat ban, total ban) — not merely restrictions
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate opposes state funding for embryonic stem-cell research and supports state IVF embryo-protection laws
FALSE (0)[1]
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)
TRUE (+2)[2]
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
Not yet verified
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)
Not yet verified
1 claim
In January 2025, Oates introduced HB 1809 to ban biological males from competing on female school sports teams, requiring all school athletic teams to be designated male, female, or coed, with a doctor's note verifying biological sex for anyone seeking to participate in sex-designated competition. Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Lt. Governor Winsome Earle Sears publicly backed the bill.
- WHRO (Hampton Roads PBS/NPR)Lean Left
- wvtf.orgUnclassified
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
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state school-choice (vouchers, ESAs, charter expansion) and supports state homeschool freedom statutes
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state law requiring parental notification + consent on minors' medical, mental-health, and gender interventions (incl. school counseling referrals)
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state law restricting CRT/SOGI/comprehensive-sex-ed/gender-ideology curricula in K-12
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state age-verification laws on pornographic content and state criminal penalties for sexualizing minors
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted for state RFRA-style protections for faith-based adoption + foster agencies; opposes state-mandated SS-couple placement
Not yet verified
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
TRUE (+2)[1]
Candidate has voted for state conscience-exemption laws (state RFRA, medical-professional carve-outs, business-owner protections)
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes state-level pronoun mandates + state 'hate speech' laws restricting Christian conviction
TRUE (+2)[1]
Candidate supports state public-square Christian display protections + state legislative prayer + state Sunday-closure laws
Not yet verified
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
Not yet verified
Candidate has voted to restrict state early-voting windows + tighten state absentee qualifications to verified medical/military
TRUE (+2)[1]
Candidate has voted against state mass mail-in voting expansion, against state drop-box deployment, and against legalizing ballot harvesting
Not yet verified
Candidate (state SoS/legislature) has voted to ban state acceptance of private election grants ('Zuckerbucks') + state penalties for foreign interference
Not yet verified
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
TRUE (+2)[1]
Candidate (state) has voted to preempt or punish sanctuary-city policies + ban state cities from declaring sanctuary status
Not yet verified
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 supports constitutional carry without permit requirements
Not yet verified
Candidate (state) has voted against state red-flag laws, mag-capacity limits, AWBs, and registries (or voted to repeal where enacted)
Not yet verified
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
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes cashless-bail, soft-on-crime, and rogue-prosecutor (e.g. Soros-DA) policy
Not yet verified
Candidate supports victim restitution and proportional punishment of evildoers
Not yet verified
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 Center4 Right12 Official4 Reference5 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
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delores_Riley_OatesEncyclopedia
Vote Smart — Voting RecordReference
deloresfordelegate.com/issues-1Unclassified
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]kind: party_platform. Scored from the 2024 Republican Party Platform (leftover sanctity_of_life q1) — RNC: We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments). Late-term opposition is not leftover STATE/federal abolition (heartbeat/total ban). No individual abolition sponsorship found this turn (LegiScan HTML 403; no invented roll-calls). Unclassified
kind: party_platform. Scored from the 2024 Republican Party Platform (leftover sanctity_of_life q1) — RNC: We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments). Late-term opposition is not leftover STATE/federal abolition (heartbeat/total ban). No individual abolition sponsorship found this turn (LegiScan HTML 403; no invented roll-calls).
- [2]kind: fec_opensecrets_search. Affirmative this turn: FEC.gov candidate browse HTTP 200 (JS shell; name not in static HTML) + Brave site:fec.gov quoted-name 0 leftover Planned Parenthood/NARAL/EMILY's List PAC contribution hits for Delores Riley Oates. OpenSecrets HTML search HTTP 403 (Just a moment / challenge) this turn — 403 omit from src. Brave site:opensecrets.org quoted-name 0 leftover PAC/foreign-lobby hits. Documented no-hit TRUE on leftover sanctity_of_life q4. No invented PAC contributions. Official
kind: fec_opensecrets_search. Affirmative this turn: FEC.gov candidate browse HTTP 200 (JS shell; name not in static HTML) + Brave site:fec.gov quoted-name 0 leftover Planned Parenthood/NARAL/EMILY's List PAC contribution hits for Delores Riley Oates. OpenSecrets HTML search HTTP 403 (Just a moment / challenge) this turn — 403 omit from src. Brave site:opensecrets.org quoted-name 0 leftover PAC/foreign-lobby hits. Documented no-hit TRUE on leftover sanctity_of_life q4. No invented PAC contributions.
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