Delegate Bobby Orrock, a long-serving member of the Virginia House of Delegates, is preparing for what could be the most competitive re-election campaign of his 35-year career.
Orrock, who has represented the General Assembly since 1990, faces Democratic challenger Nicole Cole, a Spotsylvania School Board member, in the race for the 66th House District.
Early voting begins Sept. 20, and the election is set for Nov. 4.
Though Orrock defeated Democrat Mark Lux in 2023 with 55.6% of the vote, the political landscape has shifted. Donald Trump carried the district in the 2024 presidential election by just 50.4%, and Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the House of Delegates, placing the district in focus as a potential swing seat.
“I’m running as a Republican, but I know my job is to represent all of the constituents, which has sometimes gotten me in trouble with my own party because of some primaries and things of that nature,” Orrock told the Fredericksburg Leader.
Orrock said balancing party alignment with constituent needs remains central to his approach.
“To me, that’s what every legislator is supposed to do: recognize, ‘yeah, the majority may want this, but the minority in my district, they’ve got to be considered in whatever policies we go forward with as well,’” he said.
First elected in 1989 by unseating a Democratic incumbent by less than 1%, Orrock has campaigned through redistricting and party shifts. He said his approach has remained consistent.
“I’ve always tried to run my campaign in a positive vein, in so much as I will contrast on issues between myself and my opponent,” he said. “But I will not slander or besmirch them like we see so much in campaigns anymore. I don’t think that does the process justice.”
Orrock said his political career was never part of a long-term plan.
“This was never part of Bobby Orrock’s career path,” he said. “The circumstances arose politically in the late ’80s where I got involved because of where I was in my life then—a young man, my wife had gone back to college getting her degree, three young kids and I was teaching school, and it was kind of hard to pay all those bills.”
He said he worked part-time jobs at King’s Dominion and as a charter bus driver while also volunteering in the rescue squad, Ruritan Club, church and other civic groups. That experience, he said, shaped his views on government.
“I felt they were doing to me rather than for me,” Orrock said. “We’ve had some significant tax increases during that tenure. The Virginia politics were such that it wasn’t very bipartisan, and they didn’t need to listen outside of their own election chamber.”
Now more than three decades later, Orrock said he continues to take the job one term at a time.
“I’ve always taken it two years at a time. I’m going to consult my Lord first and then my family,” he said. “If I feel led, then I’ll put myself out there and let the public decide. That’s what the process is all about.”
Orrock’s campaign this year has increased its use of digital tools and outreach compared with past cycles.
“We’ve already been doing some direct mail. We’re doing some text messaging, and we’re going to be more engaged in the digital realm than we have in past years because I’ve never taken any campaign for granted,” he said.
Republicans in competitive races, including Orrock, are coordinating through what they’ve called the “Purple Caucus” to share strategies amid increased Democratic spending and messaging efforts.
Orrock chairs the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee and serves on the Agriculture and Finance committees. A retired high school agriculture teacher and cardiac technician, he has focused much of his legislative work on healthcare, public service, and community issues.
“From my first campaign to now,” he said, “I have pledged to be open. I’m honest. I will be accessible. This is my home. It always has been. It will continue to be. I’ve very much appreciated the quality of life that I’ve been able to enjoy and want to preserve that for future generations.”
Among his legislative accomplishments, Orrock pointed to the creation of staffing standards for nursing homes.
“We’ve got to work towards to ensure proper care and supervision of our folks—the most vulnerable—in our nursing homes and assisted living facilities,” he said.
He also cited earlier efforts to regulate puppy mills, legislation he said became a national model, and the “Four for Life” EMS funding program, which supports local emergency responders.
Orrock frequently promotes his involvement with agricultural groups, vocational education programs and small businesses in the district. Recently, he has focused on agricultural land assessments following a reassessment in Caroline County that led to significantly higher valuations for some farms.
“If my farmland is assessed at $20,000 an acre and I want to get out of the business, when I go to sell it, I’m going to be asking the assessed value, which has been determined based on what subdivisions are selling for and commercial industrial,” he said. “It is, in fact, creating a circumstance whereby almost all farmlands are going to have to be sold for something other than farm use because there’s no livestock or crop that can be raised on farmland values as they’re being established now.”
Orrock said he plans to introduce legislation that would tie assessments more directly to current zoning rather than development potential.
“To me, that’s patently unfair,” he said. “That’s not a true fair market value, because something else has to happen, getting permission from the county, before it gains that new value. In fairness, I think the code should reflect fair market values based on the current zoning.”
