Rip Sullivan
American politician
title: "Rip Sullivan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["people-from-mclean,-virginia", "amherst-college-alumni", "university-of-virginia-school-of-law-alumni", "virginia-lawyers", "living-people", "1959-births", "democratic-party-members-of-the-virginia-house-of-delegates", "21st-century-members-of-the-virginia-general-assembly", "people-associated-with-reed-smith"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Sullivan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American politician ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| birthname | Richard Cyril Sullivan, Jr. |
| office | Member of the Virginia House of Delegates |
| constituency | 48th district (2014–2024) |
| 6th district (2024–present) | |
| term_start | September 12, 2014 |
| preceded | Robert H. Brink |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | New York, New York, U.S. |
| party | Democratic |
| spouse | Elizabeth |
| residence | McLean, Virginia |
| alma_mater | Amherst College (B.A.) |
| University of Virginia (J.D.) | |
| website | www.ripsullivan.com |
| profession | Community activist |
| children | 4 |
| office1 | Virginia House Democratic Caucus Chair |
| term_start1 | January 2020 |
| :: |
| birthname = Richard Cyril Sullivan, Jr. | image = | caption = | office = Member of the Virginia House of Delegates | constituency = 48th district (2014–2024) 6th district (2024–present) | term_start = September 12, 2014 | term_end = | preceded = Robert H. Brink | succeeded = | birth_date = | birth_place = New York, New York, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = Elizabeth | residence = McLean, Virginia | alma_mater = Amherst College (B.A.) University of Virginia (J.D.) | religion = | website = www.ripsullivan.com | signature = | profession = Community activist | children = 4 | office1 = Virginia House Democratic Caucus Chair | term_start1 = January 2020
Richard Cyril "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. (born March 14, 1959) is an American activist serving as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 6th district, which encompasses parts of Arlington and Fairfax counties. Sullivan is a member of the Democratic Party.
Background
Sullivan and his future wife Beth graduated from Langley High School in 1977. After graduating magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1981, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987.
Sullivan has practiced law in Northern Virginia for nearly 30 years, most notably with law firm Reed Smith LLP. Following his election, Sullivan left Reed Smith and joined the Arlington-based firm of Bean Kinney & Korman. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Sullivan helped create the United States Institute of Peace. Sullivan currently serves on the Chairman's Advisory Board of the Institute. He has served on numerous local, regional, and statewide boards and commissions.
Sullivan is the former president of Northern Virginia Legal Services, an organization that provides free counsel to low-income residents.
In 2020, Sullivan introduced and helped pass the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which was signed into law on April 11, 2020.
Political career
2007 campaign
The 34th district race was one of the most expensive local campaigns in Virginia in 2007 because of Vince Callahan's political influence in Richmond. The race was targeted as a prime pickup opportunity by the Virginia Democratic Party. Democrat Margaret Vanderhye, a community activist from McLean, Virginia, announced her candidacy along with Sullivan in the Democratic primary. In the primary election on June 12, 2007, Vanderhye defeated Sullivan by 149 votes, according to the State Board of Elections. Vanderhye went on to win the general election, but was defeated in 2009 by Republican Barbara Comstock.
2014 campaign
On June 29, 2014, Rip announced his candidacy for a special election for Virginia's 48th House of Delegates district to fill the seat of longtime Delegate Robert Brink, who resigned to take a job in the McAuliffe administration. On July 6, Sullivan won a firehouse primary over six other candidates to become the Democratic nominee for the seat. On August 19, Sullivan won in a landslide victory over opponent Dave Foster, winning by more than 24 points and winning every single precinct in the 48th District.
Electoral history
::data[format=table]
| Date | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Virginia House of Delegates, 34th district | June 12, 2007 | Virginia House of Delegates, 48th district | August 19, 2014 | November 3, 2015 | November 7, 2017 | November 5, 2019 | November 2, 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Primary | Margaret Vanderhye | Democratic | 1,727 | 52.3 | |||||||||
| Richard C. Sullivan, Jr. | Democratic | 1,578 | 47.7 | ||||||||||
| Special | Richard C. Sullivan, Jr. | Democratic | 5,978 | 62.22 | |||||||||
| David M. Foster | Republican | 3,621 | 37.69 | ||||||||||
| Write Ins | 8 | 0.08 | |||||||||||
| Robert Brink resigned; seat stayed Democratic | |||||||||||||
| General | Richard C. Sullivan, Jr. | Democratic | 13,141 | 95.36 | |||||||||
| Write Ins | 640 | 4.64 | |||||||||||
| General | Richard C. Sullivan, Jr. | Democratic | 27,670 | 94.62 | |||||||||
| Write Ins | 1,573 | 5.38 | |||||||||||
| General | Richard C. Sullivan, Jr. | Democratic | 19,762 | 94.18 | |||||||||
| Write Ins | 1,221 | 5.82 | |||||||||||
| General | Richard C. Sullivan, Jr. | Democratic | 28,545 | 72.13 | |||||||||
| David M. Foster | Republican | 10,937 | 27.63 | ||||||||||
| Write Ins | 95 | 0.24 | |||||||||||
| :: |
References
References
- "Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan Jr.".
- "Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.".
- "LIS > Bill Tracking > HB1526 > 2020 session".
- Michael Pope. (August 20, 2014). "Rip Sullivan Wins Special Election, Turns Sights Towards Virginia Medicaid Expansion".
- "2007 Democratic primary results Virginia's 34th House of Delegates district". Virginia State Board of Elections.
- "2014 August Specials Town, SOV 38, HOD 48 and HOD 90 : 08/19/2014 Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections.
- "November 2015 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections.
- "2017 November General".
- "2019 House of Delegates District 48 General Election".
- "2021 House of Delegates District 48 General Election".
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