Luke E. Torian (born May 30, 1958) is an American politician. Since 2010 he has served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts 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 ...

, representing the 52nd district in the Prince William County suburbs of Washington, D.C. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In 2019, Torian has introduced and passed House bills on a variety of issues, from expediting the screening process for community-based and institutional long-term care services (HB 2474) to extending the benefits of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program to the spouse or child of a veteran with at least a 90 percent permanent, service-related disability (HB 2685). , Torian serves as Chair of the Appropriations Committee and as a member of the General Laws and Rules Committee. He has previously served on the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee and the Counties, Cities and Towns Committee.

Early life and education

Torian was born in Roxboro, North Carolina. He received a B.A. degree in political science from Winston-Salem State University in 1980. Training to become a Baptist minister, he received a master's degree in divinity in 1984 from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and a doctorate in ministry from the

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

School of Divinity in 1987. Torian worked for the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad. History FCA was foun ...

for eight years. He was pastor of Gilfield Baptist Church in

Charles City County, Virginia Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River. Th ...

1990–1995. Since then, he has been pastor of First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries.

Community involvement

Torian has been a community leader in Prince William County for decades. He has played a major role in Action in Community Through Service (ACTS), an organization designed to alleviate hunger, homelessness, and domestic violence in the community. He is also one of the founders of Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE), an organization dedicated to making change on social justice issues.

Electoral history

In February 2009,

Republican Party of Virginia The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) is the Virginia chapter of the Republican Party. It is based at the Richard D. Obenshain Center in Richmond. History The party was established in 1854 by opponents of slavery and secession in the commonwe ...

chair

Jeff Frederick Jeffrey M. Frederick (born September 23, 1975) is an American politician, CEO, entrepreneur, and craft beer brewery owner. He served three terms as a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates. Frederick was also chairman of the Rep ...

announced that he would not run for reelection to the

. Torian ran for Frederick's 52nd district seat, winning a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

primary with more than two-thirds of the votes cast, then defeating Republican nominee Rafael Lopez. (''Note'': Write Ins are not included for results after 2011.)

References

External links

* (campaign finance) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torian, Luke 1958 births 21st-century American politicians Baptist ministers from the United States Baptists from North Carolina Baptists from Virginia Howard University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Dumfries, Virginia People from Roxboro, North Carolina People from Woodbridge, Virginia Virginia Union University alumni Winston-Salem State University alumni