Amanda Chase

Amanda Freeman Chase (born December 1, 1969) is an American politician. From 2016 to 2024, she was a member of the Virginia Senate for the 11th District and represented Amelia County, the city of Colonial Heights, and part of Chesterfield County. Describing herself as "Trump in heels", Chase was narrowly defeated in the primary of her reelection campaign for a redrawn 12th District in June 2023 and left office in January 2024.

Chase has been described as far-right She has been deemed one of the most "prominent spreaders of election conspiracy theories in Virginia politics" and has been noted for her attendance at Donald Trump's rally preceding the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, where she appeared to voice support for rioters by calling them "patriots" and suggesting that Trump might still be sworn in as president, despite losing the election to Joe Biden. She also stated, "The insurrection is actually the deep state with the politicians working against the people to overthrow our government."

The Virginia State Senate censured Chase on a 24–9 vote (with three Republicans joining the majority) for "conduct unbecoming a senator" and "fomenting insurrection against the United States", stripping Chase of her lone committee assignment. This was the first censure of a Virginia state senator since 1987. In 2025, she announced her campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, but she failed to qualify for the Republican primary.

Early life and career Chase was born in Sheffield, Alabama, on December 1, 1969. She has been a resident of Chesterfield County since 1979 and graduated from Monacan High School in 1988. In 1992, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Virginia Tech.

Elections to the Virginia State Senate In 2015, Chase won the Republican nomination in Virginia's 11th State Senate District in an upset primary victory against incumbent senator Stephen H. Martin, who had served since 1994. The solidly Republican district comprises Amelia County, Colonial Heights, and much of Chesterfield. One of the most far-right members of the state Senate, she has described herself as "Trump in heels" and gained attention in Virginia politics with provocative comments and stunts. She has repeatedly promoted baseless claims that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was marred by election fraud and "stolen" by Democrats;

Departure from Republican caucus In November 2019, Chase announced that she would not caucus with the Republicans in the State Senate in 2020, citing what she called broken and failed Republican leadership, and lack of transparency. Chase remains affiliated with the Republican Party.

Wearing a firearm in session On January 15, 2019, Chase openly carried a loaded .38-caliber handgun in a holster while presenting bills to a state Senate committee, saying she did so as "a deterrent for over-exuberant folks."

Dispute with Capitol Police officer On March 22, 2019, Chase reportedly became "irate" and used supposed profanities at Capitol Police officers after being told that she was not allowed to park in the secured Pedestrian Plaza on Bank Street where she would park at times during session. When asked to move her car she told the officer that she would not move her vehicle "unless you let the f---ing barricades down to let me in". She was eventually allowed to park.

Controversial statements In a July 2019 post on Facebook about the Second Amendment, Chase said "t's those who are naive and unprepared that end up raped. Sorry. But I'm not going to be a statistic." After a backlash, Chase posted a video in which she declined to apologize; said that her reply was "taken out of context"; and attacked critics as "trolls".

In April 2021, a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of the murder of George Floyd. Chase said in a video that the conviction made her "sick" and claimed that the verdict was motivated by politics. Chase further stated that the removal of Confederate statues is an "overt effort to erase all white history".

COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chase refused to wear a face mask during Virginia Senate sessions, contrary to public health guidance at the time. As a result of her refusal to wear a mask, she was required to sit in a plexiglass box during Senate sessions.

Affiliation with Antonio Lamotta Chase has repeatedly posed for photographs with Antonio Lamotta, a QAnon promoter who was arrested in Philadelphia shortly after the 2020 election for carrying pistols, an AR-15 rifle, and over 150 rounds of ammunition without a valid Pennsylvania firearms permit, a third-degree felony. Chase said that the story was "fake news" from the "fake media" and that there is "no connection" between her and Lamotta other than his being a supporter of hers.

Support for overturning 2020 presidential election results

Support for declaration of martial law In a Facebook post on December 15, 2020, after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Chase called upon Trump to declare federal martial law and overturn the election results. Chase baselessly asserted that there was "extensive fraud here in Virginia" and alleged that the Biden–Harris campaign "cheated to win". Democratic representative Jennifer Wexton called Chase "unhinged" and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kirk Cox called her position "absurd and dangerous"; other officials also condemned Chase's statement, including Denver Riggleman, Barbara Comstock, and David Ramadan.

Storming of the United States Capitol and censure by the state Senate Chase attended Donald Trump's rally prior to the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but stated that she left before the rioting began. She praised the rioters as "Patriots who love their country and do not want to see our great republic turn into a socialist country"

On January 27, 2021, the state Senate voted 24–9 to censure Chase for "conduct unbecoming a senator" and "fomenting insurrection against the United States." Three Republicans joining the majority in passing the censure resolution, which marked the first censure of a Virginia state senator since 1987. In February 2021, Chase sued the state Senate and its clerk, claiming that the censure violated her First Amendment rights;

Chase also claimed that Democratic state Senator Jennifer McClellan, a candidate for governor, could not represent all Virginians because of her leadership role in the Virginia Legislature's Black Caucus; this was one of several statements cited in the censure resolution against Chase. In December 2020, after the Virginia Republican Party decided to select its statewide nominees through a convention rather than an open primary, Chase said she would run for governor in the 2021 election as an independent candidate in the general election, but would remain a Republican. Chase threatened to seek the gubernatorial nomination as an independent in an "independent primary". Six days later, Chase reversed her decision to run as an independent, and continued on to run as a Republican while pushing for a primary. On January 23, 2021, the 80-member Republican State Central Committee debated a proposal by Chase and her supporters to scrap the convention in favor of a primary. Amid an acrimonious debate, deadlock, and parliamentary maneuvering, the committee voted to stay with a convention. In an interview with The New York Times, Chase vowed to "take out whichever Democratic candidate wins the nomination, and I will be the next governor of Virginia." A Virginia circuit court judge dismissed the suit ten days later.

Chase was one of seven candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor: the others were Delegate Kirk Cox, a longtime member of the House of Delegates; Sergio de la Peña, a retired Army colonel and former Trump Defense Department appointee; Peter Doran, a former think tank executive; Pete Snyder, a businessman; Octavia Johnson, a former Roanoke sheriff; and Glenn Youngkin, a former co-chief executive of the Carlyle Group. All of the Republican candidates for the gubernatorial nomination campaigned on the basis of their loyalty to Trump. On May 10, 2021, Chase lost her bid for nomination at the Republican nomination convention to Youngkin. She came in third place in a seven-candidate field; she was eliminated in the second-to-last round of ranked-choice voting, with 25%. In January 2022, after congressional redistricting put her home in Virginia's 1st Congressional District, Chase announced she would not run against incumbent Republican Congressman Rob Wittman.

2024 state senate race In July 2024, Chase announced she will run for state senate to fill the 10th district seat John McGuire left open after his victory in November. Chase was unsuccessful in her attempt and finished 3rd in the Republican mass meeting in December 2024.

Campaign for the 2025 Republican gubernatorial nomination

On February 26, 2025, Chase announced she would run for governor of Virginia again. In April, she did not submit the minimum number of ballot signatures and she was disqualified from the primary.

Election results

2021 Virginia GOP Convention, governor nominee Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %

4131.80 32.9% 4140.55 33.0% 4148.91 33.0% 4331.93 34.5% 5311.43 42.3% 6869.22 54.7%

3241.61 25.8% 3243.84 25.8% 3249.71 25.9% 3502.91 27.9% 4078.25 32.5% 5684.78 45.3%

2605.89 20.8% 2611.54 20.8% 2619.83 20.9% 2859.39 22.8% 3164.32 25.2%

1693.58 13.5% 1698.13 13.5% 1705.90 13.6% 1859.77 14.8%

805.35 6.4% 812.44 6.5% 829.65 6.6%

42.28 0.3% 47.50 0.4%

33.48 0.3%