Missy Cotter Smasal

ON THE ISSUES

• Will invest in cleaning up and protecting the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 
• Advocate for protecting Virginia’s coasts

WHY THIS RACE MATTERS

• Toss up race - In 2022, the pro-environment candidate lost by just over 4% of the vote 
• Flipping this seat will help win a pro-environmental majority in the House, making it easier to pass climate legislation at the federal level

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

Missy Cotter Smasal is running to represent Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Missy lives in Hampton Roads where she opened a small business, a local Rita’s Italian Ice, which she owned and operated for more than a decade. She is now the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that honors service women through running events, and is an adjunct professor. 

Missy also serves as the Virginia Citizen representative on the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a bipartisan, multi-state commission focused on Bay restoration and the health of those who live in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. She and her husband, Bryan, who served as an Army Officer, have lived in Virginia Beach for more than 20 years, and are the proud parents of two great kids who attend Virginia Beach Public Schools. She takes pride in volunteering in her community, from coaching youth sports, to leading Girl Scouts, to Clean the Bay Day cleanups. Missy was proud to lead a charge for school safety in Virginia Beach, and to advocate for the city’s ERA resolution. Missy is running to ensure that kids and families across coastal Virginia have the opportunities they need to succeed. Missy Cotter Smasal is endorsed by LCV Action Fund.