Richard Lawrence Saslaw (born February 5, 1940) is an American politician who served as Majority Leader of the Senate of Virginia between 2020 – 2024, when he declined to run for reelection.

"[7] Senator Saslaw has voted against attempts to restrict women's ability to obtain an abortion in Virginia.

Saslaw caught the move and thwarted it, thus allowing the bill to proceed and eventually become law in Virginia in 2018.

[11][12] In 2018, the Associated Press reported that Dominion had been Saslaw's largest source of campaign funds, contributing approximately $350,000 over a 15-year period.

[11] Saslaw helped push Dominion-backed legislation that would allow the firm to charge customers rates that regulators considered to be excessive.

[11] Saslaw was the co-patron of the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018, which ended the rate freeze and allowed the State Corporation Commission—Virginia's regulatory agency that oversees public utilities—to return to regularly reviewing utility rates, and for $200 million in credits to be refunded to ratepayers.

[16] One result of Virginia expanding Medicaid in 2018 was that additional money was made available in the budget for a 3% teacher pay raise.

[20] Senator Saslaw was chief patron of a bill to resolve the battle over a dedicated revenue source for the DC-area Metro improvements and operations.

This bill was considered a breakthrough, since any such inter-state deal has typically stalled on the Virginia side, due to the Republican control of the General Assembly.

[21] In February 2019, Saslaw made headlines as the only Democratic elected official in Virginia to initially defend Virginia Governor Ralph Northam when photos on the latter's medical school yearbook page surfaced showing two men, one of whom was in blackface and one of whom was in robes resembling those of the Ku Klux Klan.

[26] Karen Torrent, an environmental lawyer and long-time resident of the district, also challenged Senator Saslaw in the June 11 primary.