# Laura Jane Cohen

Laura Jane Cohen is a Democratic member of the Virginia House for district 15.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Virginia House, district 15
- Serving since: 2024-01-10
- Current term: VA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/6840c55c-6496-44ce-8a60-3288e222ddc0

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/6840c55c-6496-44ce-8a60-3288e222ddc0 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Cohen sits at −0.93 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 86% of State House Democrats.

## What Cohen says (VA 2025–26 session)

25 classified statements: 25 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Cohen | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 16.0% | 2.5% | 17 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 4.0% | 10.4% | 524 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 16.0% | 39.2% | 665 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 2.9% | 676 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 20.0% | 14.4% | 236 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.0% | 543 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Agriculture and Food 25% (State House Democrats 4.6%); Crime and Law Enforcement 25% (State House Democrats 8.0%); Education 25% (State House Democrats 15%); Emergency Management 25% (State House Democrats 3.6%); Health 25% (State House Democrats 15%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.93 (standard error 0.04), from 215 donors and 593 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 14% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (VA 2025–26 session)

3,859 roll calls. Attendance 96.5% (Virginia House 98.2%). Party unity 99.1% (96.5%). 29 votes against the party majority.

## Legislation (VA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 46 bills: 46 reached committee, 31 passed one chamber, 23 passed both, 18 became law. Cosponsored 234. 87.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Virginia House 84.4%; rank 47 of 98).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HR 293: Commending Boy Scout Troop 1344. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HR293/
- HR 224: Celebrating the life of Seuk Kim. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HR224/
- HR 156: Commending Lydia Larimore. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HR156/
- HB 1353: Statewide maternal health safety initiative; Commissioner of Health, et al., to evaluate, report. (became law, 2026-04-13) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HB1353/
- HB 1347: Psilocybin; Board of Pharmacy to reschedule upon federal scheduling changes. (became law, 2026-04-06) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HB1347/
- HB 1352: Driver education; dangers of reckless driving, including driving at excessive speeds. (became law, 2026-04-06) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HB1352/
- HB 1287: Veterinarians; amending applications of licensure, etc. (became law, 2026-04-13) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HB1287/
- HJ 49: Higher educational institutions, public; SCHEV to study inclusive postsecondary education programs. (in committee, 2026-02-18) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HJ49/
- HB 613: Teacher Recruitment and Retention Mentorship Pilot Program; established, report, sunset. (passed one chamber, 2026-07-21) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2027/HB613/
- HB 612: Constitutional amendment; marriage between two adult persons, repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition. (became law, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/HB612/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $108.1K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 89% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-06-12 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/2065267482181390578
- 2026-04-24 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/2047756537708380581
- 2026-01-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/2013468909077217303
- 2026-01-08 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/2009306671160480052
- 2025-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/1981522049542869284
- 2025-09-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/1971638138167873609
- 2025-09-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/1971639339349381479
- 2025-09-26 · Post on X · labels: credit claiming · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/1971642125373829587
- 2025-09-18 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/1968669972718059567
- 2025-09-18 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen/status/1968744314940375319

## Links

- Official site: https://virginiageneralassembly.gov/house/members/members.php?id=H0355
- Campaign site: https://www.laurajanecohen.com/
- X: https://x.com/LauraJaneCohen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraJaneCohenVA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.j.cohen.3
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LauraJaneCohen/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-jane-cohen-a9190b169/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/6840c55c-6496-44ce-8a60-3288e222ddc0