Jennifer Carroll Foy

Jennifer Carroll Foy was born and grew up in Petersburg, Virginia. Raised by her grandmother, She received her bachelor's degree from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 2003. Carroll Foy received her master's degree from Virginia State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. == Career ==

After graduating from law school, Carroll Foy spent time teaching and worked in Los Angeles as a litigation associate. She moved back to Virginia and opened a private practice that focused on criminal defense. Virginia House of Delegates In February 2017, Carroll Foy entered the race for the Second District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. In November 2017, Carroll Foy beat Republican Mike Makee, and became delegate of Virginia's Second district. In the House of Delegates, Carroll Foy sat on the Courts of Justice, Finance, and Public Safety Committees. 2021 gubernatorial campaign In 2020, Carroll Foy filed paperwork to seek the Democratic nomination in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election. On December 8, 2020, she announced plans to resign from the House of Delegates in order to focus full-time on her gubernatorial campaign. Her resignation came into effect on December 12, 2020. She, like fellow candidate Jennifer McClellan, would've been the first female governor of Virginia, the second African-American governor after Douglas Wilder, and first African-American female governor of the United States if elected. However, former governor Terry McAuliffe won the Democratic primary. Virginia State Senate In 2023, she was elected to the Virginia Senate, defeating former delegate Hala Ayala in the Democratic primary with 62.85% and Republican candidate Michael Van Meter with nearly 63% of the vote in the general election. ==Political positions==

Healthcare Carroll Foy voted to pass Medicaid expansion in the General Assembly in March 2018, expanding health insurance coverage for 400,000 Virginians. Women's rights Carroll Foy proposed and passed the Equal Rights Amendment, making Virginia the 38th state to ratify the constitutional amendment. Criminal justice A public defender, Carroll Foy has advocated for the reform of cash bail, criticizing what she called Virginia's "justice-for-profit system". Carroll Foy initially abstained from voting on a 2020 proposal to reduce prison sentences, bringing Virginia's "earned sentence credit" program in line with other states. She eventually voted in favor of a significantly more conservative version of the bills. Redistricting Carroll Foy supports third-party, commission-drawn legislative maps but opposed the amendment to the state constitution as proposed in 2020, saying she felt it was wrong to inscribe a “substandard” proposal in the constitution. Infrastructure Carroll Foy supports efforts to expand broadband access, particularly to southwest Virginia. ==Personal life==

She is married to Jeffrey Foy, whom she met at VMI. ==Electoral history==