Laura Lee Thompson is a Virginia attorney, currently elected as a James River Soil and Water Conservation District Director, former school board member, and someone who believes deeply in taking care of people. She’s running for the Virginia State Senate in one of the Commonwealth’s most competitive districts because she knows what’s at stake — and because she’s lived it.

As a high school student working at a childcare center during the Virginia Tech massacre, Laura helped hide children in a closet to keep them safe while much of her family was on campus. Later, while serving in elected office, she faced threats for standing up for her community. She is also a survivor of domestic violence who turned to the legal system to protect herself and move forward.

Those experiences didn’t harden her — they clarified her values. Laura leads with steadiness, empathy, and a firm belief that government should protect people, not put them in harm’s way.

Her family history makes that belief personal. One side of her family fought in the Revolutionary War to help build American democracy. Another fled Austria as Nazism rose; her great-grandfather escaped to the United States, while relatives who couldn’t leave were murdered in the Holocaust. Laura doesn’t take democracy for granted — she knows how fragile it can be.

Laura currently serves in elected office representing over 90% of Senate District 12, worked directly with constituents as a legislative intern, and served on statewide boards appointed by two governors. She founded the Chesterfield Young Democrats, served as Young Elected Officials national LGBTQIA caucus vice chair, Faith and Values co-director of the Young Democrats of America, and has spent years bringing people together across communities.

Laura holds a BA in Political Science and minors in studio art and peacemaking and conflict resolution from Mary Baldwin University and a JD from Washington & Lee University School of Law.

Today, Laura is a family-law attorney at Melone Hatley, P.C. working on issues of domestic violence, housing instability, and crisis. She’s also experienced poverty and housing insecurity herself. That’s why she believes budgets are moral documents and that government should focus on affordability, safety, strong public schools, and accessible health care.

Laura Lee Thompson is running to protect democracy, earn trust, and do the work — and she knows how to win in a purple district.