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Virginia State Senate
Travis Hackworth
State Senate — District 5
Republican
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
18
/ 100
—
Raw: 18 of 18 dynamic max
· 9 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
14/ 70
🏛️ State First
4/ 30
National Rank
#4,330 of 8,962 · top 48.3% 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
Primary · Not up at next scheduled election
— until
Registration deadline: 2026-10-13
Early voting: 2026-09-18 – 2026-10-31
Elections office: (804) 864-8901
Voter status: Check registration
State elections site: Virginia Department of Elections
Official Profile
Religion: Pentecostal — Assistant Pastor, Richlands Tabernacle
Background: VA Senate District 5 (SW Virginia/Appalachia) since a 2021 special election. Construction/real-estate entrepreneur. As Tazewell County Board chair, led a Second Amendment Sanctuary + militia ordinance.
VA State Senator, SD-5 (R), since 2021. [2026-06 overnight refinement, state tier] Strongly conservative: NO on the reproductive-freedom amendment + chief-patroned SB1284 (preborn protection / 'life at conception'); NO on the same-sex-marriage amendment (not in the 2026 crossover list) + introduced a bill to rescind the VDOE transgender model-policy mandate on schools; sponsored a school-choice scholarship-tax-credit bill (SB16); as Tazewell County chair led a 2A-Sanctuary + militia ordinance framed as resisting state/federal gun overreach. Assistant pastor (Richlands Tabernacle). Some dimensions left null pending cited votes.
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
TRUE (+2)[1]
1 claim
Introduced SB1284 in the Virginia Senate (2023 session), a near-total abortion prohibition explicitly providing that 'life begins at conception' and making an unlawful abortion a Class 4 felony — a personhood-level bill, not a gestational-limit restriction.
- Virginia Legislative Information SystemOfficial
- richmondsunlight.comUnclassified
Candidate has voted for or sponsored state legislation moving toward abortion abolition (e.g., heartbeat ban, total ban) — not merely restrictions
TRUE (+2)[2]
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
Candidate has never accepted abortion-industry PAC funding for state-legislative or statewide-office campaigns
Not yet verified
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
TRUE (+2)[3]
Candidate opposes state recognition of same-sex marriage / civil unions / domestic partnerships, and supports state non-recognition resolutions where federally permitted
TRUE (+2)[3]
Candidate has voted for state legislation affirming biological sex (bathroom/locker access, sports participation, minor gender-procedure bans)
TRUE (+2)[4]
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
TRUE (+2)[4]
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 claim
Campaign platform explicitly commits to standing firm on 'religious liberty,' positioning Hackworth as a defender of Christians' right to live and operate according to their convictions against government compulsion — the free exercise of religion the rubric prioritizes.
- BallotpediaCenter
- richmondsunlight.comUnclassified
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
Not yet verified
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
Not yet verified
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
Not yet verified
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)
TRUE (+2)[5]
1 claim
Campaign platform explicitly commits to standing firm on 'guns,' representing rural Appalachian districts (Bland, Giles, Pulaski, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe, Radford, Montgomery) where Second Amendment rights are foundational — opposing anti-gun legislation advanced by Virginia's Democratic majority.
- BallotpediaCenter
- Vote Smart — Just FactsReference
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
TRUE (+2)[5]
Official has opposed federal capture of state elections, data, or land
Not yet verified
Sources & Evidence
1 Left4 Right2 Official2 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
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_HackworthEncyclopedia
richlandstabernacle.com/staff/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 (named in the 19-R bloc); ReproRising F. Left Advocacy
NO on the reproductive-freedom amendment (named in the 19-R bloc); ReproRising F.
- [2]Chief-patroned SB1284 (2025), a preborn-protection / 'life at conception' bill. Unclassified
Chief-patroned SB1284 (2025), a preborn-protection / 'life at conception' bill.
- [3]NO on the same-sex-marriage amendment (not in the 2026 named crossover list). Local News
NO on the same-sex-marriage amendment (not in the 2026 named crossover list).
- [4]Introduced a bill to rescind the requirement that schools follow VDOE transgender model policies. Encyclopedia
Introduced a bill to rescind the requirement that schools follow VDOE transgender model policies.
- [5]Led the Tazewell 2A-Sanctuary effort with direct pro-gun quotes; opposes new gun restrictions. Unclassified
Led the Tazewell 2A-Sanctuary effort with direct pro-gun quotes; opposes new gun restrictions.
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