Joshua Gregory Cole (born July 25, 1990) is an American politician. A Democrat, he served one term as member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

as the representative of Virginia's 28th district. Elected by the Democratic Party of Virginia, Cole served as a member of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

at the 2020 convention. Cole was elected to represent Virginia's 65th district in the 2023 Virginia House of Delegates election. He is facing Sean Steinway for re-election in 2025.

Early life and education

Cole was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Stafford County, Virginia. He graduated from North Stafford High School and attended Liberty University for three years. He currently attends the University of Mary Washington.

Career

He worked for Liberty University and Richmond City Public Schools. He was also a pastor and is the immediate past president of the Stafford County

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. Cole has also had many staff positions in the Virginia Assembly. Between the 2017 and 2019 elections, he was chief of staff to Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler.

Virginia House of Delegates

In 2017, Cole ran for the 28th district in the 2017 Virginia House of Delegates election but lost to Bob Thomas by 73 votes. Cole_Northam

In 2019, Cole announced his campaign for the same seat in the 2019 election. He faced then Stafford County

Supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...

, Paul V. Milde, who had defeated Thomas in the Republican primary. Cole won with 51.8% of the vote. His 2021 re-election won the support of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ candidates. He also received endorsement from The Collective PAC, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Barack Obama. Cole was defeated for re-election in November 2021 by Tara Durant. In 2023, Cole declared his candidacy for the redrawn 65th district. He won the seat in the general election.

References

Living people 1990 births People from Stafford County, Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Candidates in the 2017 United States elections Bisexual male politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Virginia American bisexual men American bisexual politicians 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly {{Virginia-delegate-stub