# Bill DeSteph

Bill DeSteph is a Republican member of the Virginia Senate for district 20.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Virginia Senate, district 20
- Serving since: 2024-01-10
- Current term: VA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/ec14a514-ce1c-4fba-b053-fcf133793445

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/ec14a514-ce1c-4fba-b053-fcf133793445 (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

DeSteph reported $571.0K in the 2026 cycle, in the top tenth of State Senate Republicans (median $46.2K).

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

87 classified statements: 87 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | DeSteph | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.3% | 272 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 3.5% | 9.5% | 230 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 33.3% | 37.3% | 209 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 2.3% | 311 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 9.2% | 15.4% | 212 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.3% | 261 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Crime and Law Enforcement 21% (State Senate Republicans 12%); Armed Forces and National Security 17% (State Senate Republicans 6.5%); Transportation and Public Works 17% (State Senate Republicans 6.0%); Emergency Management 14% (State Senate Republicans 3.1%); Government Operations and Politics 10% (State Senate Republicans 17%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.50 (standard error 0.02), from 354 donors and 1,190 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 71% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (VA 2025–26 session)

6,566 roll calls. Attendance 99.8% (Virginia Senate 97.8%). Party unity 97.9% (95.7%). 111 votes against the party majority.

## Legislation (VA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 77 bills: 77 reached committee, 39 passed one chamber, 24 passed both, 10 became law. Cosponsored 116. 85.7% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Virginia Senate 90.1%; rank 33 of 40).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 4002: Sales and use tax, food for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products, emergency. (in committee, 2026-10-21) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SB4002/
- SJ 4001: RGGI., grocery and gas tax; encouraging the Governor to take measures to alleviate financial strain. (in committee, 2026-10-21) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SJ4001/
- SB 4001: Virginia Clean Energy & Community Flood Preparedness Act; repeal; electric utility customer credit. (in committee, 2026-10-21) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SB4001/
- SB 4003: Suspension of statewide fuel taxes; emergency. (in committee, 2026-10-21) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SB4003/
- SR 2082: Commending Shay Triepel. (passed one chamber, 2026-07-01) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SR2082/
- SR 2070: Commending Terry Haddock. (passed one chamber, 2026-07-01) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SR2070/
- SR 2038: Celebrating the life of John Fredrick Reinhart. (passed one chamber, 2026-06-23) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026S1/SR2038/
- SR 160: Commending Belvin Williamson, Jr. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/SR160/
- SR 108: Commending Naval Air Station Oceana. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-24) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/SR108/
- SR 98: Celebrating the life of F. Patrick Kavanaugh, Jr. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-24) https://openstates.org/va/bills/2026/SR98/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $571.0K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 97% 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.

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2114757019685061064
- 2026-07-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2078120781045698586
- 2026-07-04 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2073429265165525306
- 2026-06-28 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2071265844424769724
- 2026-05-08 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2052765676410986982
- 2026-04-28 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2049145453942317525
- 2026-04-22 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2046943387765358672
- 2026-04-22 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2047023738009350309
- 2026-04-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2046542977926082903
- 2026-04-02 · Post on X · https://x.com/https://x.com/BillDeSteph/status/2039503021369958683

## Links

- Official site: https://apps.senate.virginia.gov/Senator/memberpage.php?id=S96
- Campaign site: https://www.billdesteph.com/
- X: https://x.com/BillDeSteph
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/destephforva
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BillDeSteph/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-desteph-7b3a939/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/ec14a514-ce1c-4fba-b053-fcf133793445