Barbara Favola

Barbara A. Favola (born June 21, 1955) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A Democrat, she has served in the Senate of Virginia since 2012, and currently represents the 40th District, encompassing most of Arlington County.

Political career
Favola has been a resident of Arlington since 1982.

From 1997 until 2012, Favola was a member of the Arlington County Board; she served as chairman in 2000 and 2004 and Vice Chairman in 1999, 2003 and 2011.

In 2006, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine appointed Favola to a four-year term on the State Health Board.

Favola was a policy advisor for 15 years at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Favola started her career at HHS as a Presidential Management Intern (PMI), and served in various policy and planning positions throughout the department, with several assignments in the Office of the Secretary and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Health. As part of the PMI experience, Favola also worked on the House Budget Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

State Senate
Favola was first elected to the Virginia Senate in 2011 in the 31st district, defeating Republican Caren Merrick with 58% of the vote. She was re-elected in 2015, defeating Republican George Forakis with 62% of the vote. She was re-elected in 2019, running unopposed in the general election. In 2023, she was re-elected to represent the newly redrawn 40th Senate District. In doing so, she defeated James DeVita in the June 20th Democratic primary, and Republican David Henshaw in the November 7th general election, winning 83.74% and 80.92% of the vote, respectively.

Favola has chaired the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee since 2020. She currently serves on the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Finance and Appropriations, Rules, and Education and Health committees.

Favola has passed over 120 bills during her time in the state Senate. In 2019, Favola sponsored a bill that would protect individuals with a severe mental illness from receiving the death penalty. In 2020, she sponsored a bill aimed at preventing balance billing for Virginia residents who unknowingly receive out-of-network medical care. The bill was signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam.