Chap Petersen

Petersen announced his candidacy for the 34th district seat in the State Senate, Wednesday, January 3, 2007.[7] He defeated incumbent Republican Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis, wife of Congressman Thomas M. Davis, in the November 2007 election, taking 55% of the vote. The district had been the most Democratic state senate district held by a Republican.

During the week of October 22, 2007, the Devolites-Davis campaign sent out 60,000 campaign flyers accusing Petersen of not disclosing that his former law firm was working on issues that Petersen voted on while in the House of Delegates. The flyer included a copy of a section of Petersen's Statement of Economic Interest, which he filed while serving in the House. It includes Petersen's home address, telephone number, and the names of his wife and children, which were not redacted.[8] [9][10][11][12]

Petersen held a press conference on October 26 in front of Devolites-Davis' headquarters in Fairfax. He said that "words cannot describe the anger I feel" about the flyer, and called it "shocking" that Devolites-Davis would use his personal information in such a manner. Petersen said that advertising his personal information was not in and of itself a problem, but using it in an attack ad went too far. Such tactics, Petersen said, endangered his family. Devolites-Davis said in her own press conference that Petersen himself published the names and pictures of his family, and showed a mailer from the Petersen campaign showing pictures of his children. The mailer identifies the children by name. She claimed the Petersen campaign uploaded a video to YouTube which brought up her daughter's armed robbery conviction of several years ago. According to WUSA, there is no evidence that anyone from the Petersen camp uploaded the video.[8][9][10][11][12]

Petersen has voted multiple times against Castle Doctrine bills.

In January 2011, Petersen voted against Senate Bill 876 (Castle Doctrine) which would have allowed “a lawful occupant use of physical force, including deadly force, against an intruder in his dwelling who has committed an overt act against him, without civil liability.”[13] In February 2011, Petersen was one of eight senators on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee who “passed by indefinitely” House Bill 1573, defeating the bill by an 8 to 4 margin.[14]

In February 2020, Peterson was one of four Democrats in the Virginia State Senate who broke party ranks to defeat an assault weapons ban.[15]

In mid-October 2007, Devolites-Davis, Petersen's opponent, began running television ads showing a photo of her opponent Chap Petersen with text stating "Supports Increasing the Estate Tax", "Supports a 38 cent gas tax increase", and "Voted for Concealed Weapons on School Property" superimposed. The voiceover attributed these allegations to Petersen's prior votes in the Virginia House of Delegates. Davis's website contains references to past Petersen votes.[16] He responded that he never voted to increase the Virginia estate tax. Petersen co-sponsored bills, including SB 1309, intending to preserve the tax for Virginians in higher income brackets. Petersen also denied ever supporting a 38 cent gas tax increase. He recently explained that he supported the current law which makes it a felony to possess a gun on school grounds, but voted for a bipartisan bill, HB 2535, which gave a limited exception to parents with licensed concealed carry permits who pick up their children at school, for just school driveways. That bill was signed into law in 2005.

As controversy has grown over the name of the Washington Redskins, Peterson has become a vocal defender of his local sports team. In 2014, he initiated a "Redskins Pride Caucus" in the Virginia Legislature.[17] Although Petersen's position is unconventional for his political party, he has said that several other Virginia Democrats have privately supported him on this issue.[18] Citing support that he has received from individual Native Americans, Petersen has said, "I get it from all points. And listen - if somebody is offended, I'm not going to deny that that's a sincere feeling. But you can't just take that and scrub out the feelings of 100,000 other people."[18]

When the Daily Show produced an episode that aired September 25, 2014 featuring local Redskins fans confronted by Native Americans, Petersen contacted the producers in an attempt to withdraw the fans' consent to appear. According Petersen, these fans had been misled about the nature of the segment, prior to signing their releases.[19] Although the segment was not pulled, Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, acknowledged on air that the fans were upset with the situation.[19]

Petersen has also given legal representation to the Native American Tribal Association, a nation-wide group of Native Americans who are opposed to the removal of Native American mascots.[20][21]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Petersen has come under fire for what critics have called extreme stances on school closures.

In June of 2020, Petersen said on "The John Fredericks Show" when discussing Jim Crow laws "Look, there were some bad decisions made, but at least they had a school system, ok, at least they had a functioning school system.[22]" This statement quickly drew controversy from Virginia Democrats who noted the history of massive resistance in Virginia where school systems refused to integrate. The Prince Edward County School Board even shut down schools for nearly five years rather than desegregate.

In January of 2021, Petersen announced he would propose an amendment to the Virginia state budget to require schools receiving state funding to allow in-person learning.[23] Petersen proposed the amendment in spite of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee voting with 98% support[24] of a resolution asking "state legislators to refrain from coercing the FCPS school board to change their school reopening plan by threatening to cut their budget[25]."